


Better Days

by loverjoy



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Child Abuse, EriSol - Freeform, Gen, Humanstuck, I Love Dave Strider, M/M, bro is a dick in this fic, dadbert is a legend, davekat - Freeform, hints of john/dave, june egbert is trans, my apologies, okay there's other ships and they're not background, other ships later maybe but background, protecc dave, rosemary, this turned into a bigger fic than i was planning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:15:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24878308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loverjoy/pseuds/loverjoy
Summary: Dave Strider has been abused by his older brother all his life and the only one he's told about it is his best friend John. When John's Dad finds out things start to change for Dave. He makes more friends, opens up a little more, and maybe even finally asks out that grumpy guy who he sits behind in science lab.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 54
Kudos: 134





	1. A Warm Meal

**Author's Note:**

> I, for the life of me, cannot use HTML or CSS very well and I have no idea how to change text color, so when I figure it out I will come back and edit it. For now, I hope you enjoy! This will be a multi-chapter fic and I will write more when I can! Thanks for reading!

It hurt. Everything hurt. Tonight was worse than most nights. Tonight his brother went out for drinks after work and came home swinging fists. He punched and he kicked and for a minute there Dave thought he was going to take that sword that was hanging on the wall and start cutting him up with it. 

So yeah, everything hurt.

There was only one person he could turn to in these times, because only one person knew about this. So, once he had locked himself in his closet, he pulled out his phone and texted John.

turntechGodhead began pestering ectoBiologist 

TG: john

TG: john

TG: john

TG: jesus christ john answer me

EB: oh, sorry dave! my dad was bothering me with something. what’s up?

TG: what was he bothering you with

EB: huh?

TG: your dad

TG: what was he bothering you with

EB: oh he was just wondering if i wanted to watch some silly movie with him but it looked pretty lame so i said no.

TG: that’s kind of rude john

TG: your dear old dad wants to hang with you and you’re like 

TG: nah i think i’ll fuck off to my room all night and message my hella rad pal screw you dad  
TG: even though hanging with your hella rad pal is a valid excuse not to watch some lame ass movie  
TG: but maybe the movie was actually cool because last time i checked you were the one who watched lame ass movies so maybe when you call a movie lame it’s actually a pretty good watch  
**TG: it was probably schindler’s list**  
**TG: it was schindler’s list wasn’t it**  
**TG: it was schindler’s list wasn’t it john**

****

EB: dave.

****

**TG: i can’t believe you turned down your old man who was watching a hella good film just to chill with me**  
**TG: that’s pretty lame of you john**

****

EB: dave!

****

TG: what

****

EB: why did you message me? did you need something?

****

**TG: wow rude**  
**TG: as if i would just message you with some life altering problem and not just so i could hang out and vibe with you i can’t believe you’d assume otherwise**  
**TG: you know what that assumption is john**  
**TG: lame**  
**TG: it’s lame as hell**

****

EB: dave you’re rambling more than usual. did something happen?

****

**TG: why would you assume something happened**  
**TG: john that’s**  
**TG: hella**

****

EB: dave i swear to god if you say lame again i’ll block you.

****

TG: damn fine

****

**EB: ...**  
**EB: so…**

****

TG: what

****

**EB: dave i feel like you want to tell me something but your weird anti-emotion mask is not allowing you to.**  
**EB: what’s wrong?**

****

TG: there’s nothing wrong i just wanted to hang out.

****

EB: hm… i don’t know dave something feels off here.

****

**TG: jesus christ john can’t a guy just message his best friend and ramble about the 1993 oscar award winning film schindler’s list and vibe.**  
**TG: god damn**

****

EB: dave did something happen with your brother?

****

**TG: uh**  
**TG: no**  
**TG: it’s fine**  
**TG: nothing happened**  
**TG: everything is cool**  
**TG: i’m cool**  
**TG: haha**

****

EB: dave.

****

**TG: ...**  
**TG: okay fine you win**  
**TG: jeez you really can read a guy**  
**TG: you’re like a fucking mind reader**  
**TG: you’d be a great fortune teller or some shit**  
**TG: the amazing john egbert watch out everyone he will blow your fucking mind**

****

EB: what happened?

****

**TG: ...**  
**TG: i don’t really want to talk about it**  
**TG: but it hurts**  
**TG: really bad**  
**TG: all over**  
**TG: i don’t even know if i can get up**

**  
**

**EB: oh my god.**  
**EB: do you want me to come over?**

**  
**

**TG: oh jesus no**  
**TG: i don’t want you anywhere around that psycho**  
**TG: i just**  
**TG: needed to tell somebody and you’re the only one who knows about this**  
**TG: so yeah**

**  
**

**EB: but dave i can’t just let you be there by yourself with him! what if he comes back and hits you again?**  
**EB: i can come over! just stay right there!**

**  
**

**TG: no john please don’t do that**  
**TG: i don’t want you to be around him alright**  
**TG: i’m fine i just**  
**TG: god i should’ve never even told you about this i’m just blowing it all out of proportion like i always do**  
**TG: i’m such an idiot**

**  
**

**EB: shut up dave. you’re not an idiot and you’re not blowing anything out of proportion.**  
**EB: he beat the hell out of you again and that’s nothing to take lightly.**

**  
**

**TG: ...**  
**TG: i think i can walk**  
**TG: i’ll be okay**

****

EB: dave…

****

TG: hey john

****

EB: yeah?

****

TG: can i come over

****

**EB: of course you can!**  
**EB: i can come and get you! i don’t want you to walk all the way here by yourself! it’s late! you shouldn’t be out at this time by yourself!**

****

TG: i’ve been through worse than the fucking dark egbert i’m sure i’ll live

****

EB: but…

****

**TG: what you think some dude is going to try and kidnap me or something**  
**TG: please john i would kick a dude’s ass they wouldn’t stand a chance against me i ain’t scared**  
**TG: nothing is scarier than…**  
**TG: ...**  
**TG: anyway i’ll pack an overnight bag and be on my way okay**

****

EB: yeah okay.

****

TG: alright i’ll see you soon

****

**EB: okay.**  
**EB: be careful okay?**

****

TG: yeah **TG: bye**

********

EB: bye.

****

****

**turntechGodhead** ceased pestering **ectoBiologist**

****

He turned his phone off and slid it into his pocket, sitting back and leaning against the wall for a moment. Everything hurt, he felt like he could pass out. His breath was coming in and out quicker than normal too, but he refused to acknowledge that right now. Instead, he reached forward and grabbed his overnight bag and started grabbing clothes that were thrown around in here.

****

He grabbed what he could before he made his way to his feet. It hurt to move after sitting curled into the corner of his closet for the past half hour, and he whined and winced as he got up, and once he was up he put a hand on the wall and took a few deep breaths. God, everything hurt so bad. He usually healed pretty fast, he hoped that was true for this time too because he wasn’t sure how long he could handle this.

****

He leaned forward after his recovery, opening the door slowly and peering out. His eyes looked back and forth attentively, looking for any sign of his brother. Listening, he could hear the TV in the living room blaring some program he was unfamiliar with; if he was lucky his brother would have passed out on the couch by now.

****

Only one way to find out.

****

He stepped out of his closet, trying to be quiet as he tiptoed over to his bedroom door. He opened it, wincing when the hinges squeaked, but it didn’t seem to startle his brother. The TV was probably covering the sound effectively anyway.

****

He carefully stepped out of his room, nervously peering over the couch as he walked closer to it. He found his brother half on his back and half on his side, one arm hanging off the couch, the other resting over his midsection. His breathing was labored, confirming that he was, in fact, fast asleep.

****

Dave wasn’t out of the woods yet though, he still had to make it to the door without his brother hearing him, and his brother had exceptional hearing. He, as light footed as he could, snuck over to the door. He felt sweat begin to bead on his forehead, his heart hammering anxiously in his chest. He was almost there; he could almost taste it.

****

He grabbed the doorknob, the metal feeling cool against his warm skin, and he twisted it and opened the door. He was quiet stepping out and when the door was closed behind him he released a sigh of relief.

****

The hardest part was over, now he just had to make it to John’s house.  
\---

****

The hardest part wasn’t getting past his brother, it was having to show his bruised up face to John.

****

He stood on his porch, fists clenched by his sides as he tried to work up the nerve to knock on the door. How does he go about this? What was he going to say? Hey John. Oh this? Pretty metal right? Yeah, that’s me. Dave Strider, one metal motherfucker. I mean metal in a sense of like, hardcore. Not metal like a robot. But being a robot would be pretty cool. I mean, come on John, don’t act like--

****

The door opened and Dave flinched when it did. He looked up, seeing the one and only John Egbert standing before him, wearing a concerned and extremely worried look on his face. He saw John’s eyes move over his body, scanning him and looking at every imperfection that was currently visible to him.

****

Dave didn’t know what to say, he really didn’t like these emotional types of things, but he couldn’t really hide from this right now, “John…”

****

Before he could even go on, John was leaping forward and wrapping his arms around him. Dave wasn’t really expecting it and he stumbled back a bit but kept upright. His arms hung by his sides, he didn’t hug back, he just stood there fighting a sad look. He winced and made a sound that sounded pained, and John quickly hopped back and away.

****

“Oh, sorry! I was being dumb! It somehow slipped my mind that you--”

****

“It’s okay,” Dave said, forcing a smile and shrugging, “Let’s go inside, okay? It’s kind of cold out here.”

****

John nodded, stepping back so Dave could go in past him, “Yeah, okay.”

****

Dave went inside, the inside of John’s house immediately warming his body a bit; he’d been cold all night. He looked around as if he’s never been in here before, but really he was just taking it all in.

****

It was decorated in here, albeit quite uniquely, but it was decorated nonetheless. There was a TV, a nice comfy couch, photos of John and his Dad hung on the walls and a few sitting on some nightstands. There was even a fireplace that had a fire going right now. He found himself inching towards it, it was quite comforting.

****

“Dave,” He flinched when John spoke behind him, and he turned to look at him to see him at the base of the stairs, one hand on the railing as his other jutted a thumb up the steps, “Come on, let’s go upstairs to my room before my Dad sees you.”

****

“Oh yeah, alright,” He turned, adjusting his bag over his shoulder before he started following John up the steps, “Does he not know I’m here? If he didn’t want me to come over then I could’ve just stayed--”

****

“No, it’s not that,” John said, shaking his head, “I told him you were coming over, he doesn’t mind. I just… didn’t think you’d want him to see you… like that…”

****

Dave frowned, “Oh.”

****

John suddenly panicked, spinning around to face Dave when he reached the top of the steps, “That’s not what I meant! I just meant that you probably don’t want to talk about it, especially with my Dad! You don’t know him very well and--”

****

“It’s okay, John. I know what you meant,” Dave said, not seeming all that fazed by any of it.

****

“O-oh,” John saw the frown on his friend’s face, and now was one of those times he really wished Dave wasn’t wearing his sunglasses because he so desperately wanted to know what Dave was feeling right now.

****

He turned back around, leading Dave to his room, “Come on then.”

****

Dave followed John the rest of the way to his room, and when they reached it John immediately started apologizing, “Sorry for the mess. I was going to clean up but didn’t have enough time.”

****

He was smiling nervously, scratching the back of his head, but Dave just stepped inside and looked around. He’d been in here many times, but seeing his bedroom decorated with things he actually liked and he had a nice computer and hell, even a few stuffed animals sat on his bed. Though, John seemed kind of embarrassed about that.

****

“Those are toys I had when I was a baby, I just keep them because my Dad wants me to,” He laughed sort of awkwardly, but Dave didn’t say anything about it. He told him that every time he came over.

****

“I uh, brought a change of clothes and the ones I’m wearing now are kind of fucked up,” Dave explained awkwardly, hands wringing around the strap of his bag, “Can I change in here or use the bathroom or…”

****

“Oh! You can change in here! That’s fine!” John said, starting to back out of the room, “I need to go and see how dinner is coming along anyway! When it’s done I’ll bring you some up, okay?”

****

“Yeah, alright,” Was all he said.

****

“Okay, then I’ll just leave you to it,” He chuckled awkwardly because he was John Egbert and he was a dork and Dave actually felt the corner of his mouth twitch, trying to smile as his best friend backed out of the room.

****

He pulled the door closed and left Dave to change by himself. Dave took his bag off of his shoulder, dropping it on the floor and opening it up. He pulled out the change of clothes he packed and set them on John’s bed before he looked down at himself.

****

He had to take off his shirt, and he knew his midsection was probably bruised beyond recognition. He sighed, knowing he had to change before John came back, so he reached his hands down and wrapped his fingers around the hem, pulling off his shirt.

****

He felt like a nasty pervert, but John was curious and wanted to see just how bad it was. The door was open a crack, giving him enough room to peer inside. Dave had removed his shirt and John had to hold in a gasp that threatened to escape his throat. What he saw was shocking and sad, and it filled him with a slew of different emotions.

****

Purple and grey painted a pale canvas, dark purple spots on his ribs and grey splotches across his chest and other areas of his body. His arms had sharp dark grey lines across them, one on a bicep the other on a forearm, both in the shape of a bruising hand.

****

Dave winced when he took off his shirt and had to lift his arms, and he gently tossed his old shirt onto the floor before he looked down at himself. Thin fingers poked and prodded at his own body, brushing over the bruises across his chest. A gentle glide of his fingers across his ribs made him bite his lip to stifle a whimper and even with his sunglasses on John could see the pained furrow in his brow.

****

It was surprising, but he heard Dave sniffle and if he wasn’t mistaken a few tears slid down his face. John’s eyes were wide behind his glasses, and he stepped back, feeling like he’s seen way too much. He stood in the hallway, back facing his door as he bit his own lip; he couldn’t get the image of Dave broken and crying out of his mind. It was burned into his memory.

****

He clenched his fists by his sides, suddenly filled with anger at the thought of what Dave’s brother did to him. God, it made him so mad. He took a deep breath though, calming himself. It’s alright. Dave would be okay. He would get help. He knew he would.

****

With all the strength he could muster he walked away from Dave and went to check on dinner.

****

\---

****

He came back up to the room later, calmed down a bit from earlier, and he knocked on the door before he entered, “Dave?”

****

After a moment of silence he heard, “You can come in.”

****

John opened his door, stepping into his room, eyes landing on Dave. He was wearing day clothes still, jeans and a t-shirt, and John frowned. 

****

“Don’t you have any pajamas? It’s a bit late to be wearing jeans isn’t it?” John said it as a joke, but Dave frowned and averted his eyes.

****

Oh.

****

John frowned now too, “It’s alright! You’re a little taller than me, but I’m sure I have something around here that will fit you!”

****

“Oh, thanks, but it’s okay,” Dave said, voice low and soft, almost hard to hear.

****

That wasn’t like him.

****

After yet another moment of silence, John spoke again, “Well, hey. My Dad is almost done cooking dinner. I can bring a plate up to you if--”

****

“No, it’s okay,” Dave shrugged, then winced, “Not hungry.”

****

John frowned and slumped his shoulders, “Dave, you have to eat something.”

****

“I’m not hungry,” Dave repeated, looking at the ground and avoiding looking at his best pal.

****

“Have you eaten anything today?” John asked, genuinely curious.

****

“Yeah, of course I have,” Dave said it as if that were a stupid question to ask.

****

“Well… What have you had?” John asked, taking a step toward Dave.

****

“Um… I had the last toaster waffle for breakfast, and I had some fruit snacks I think sometime today…” Dave trailed off, realizing that probably wasn’t going to comfort John too much.

****

“Dave… You’ve got to eat something,” John said, and it kind of hurt because he sounded disappointed.

****

“I…” Dave clenched his fists, “I don’t have a lot to eat around my place but it’s okay, I make it work.”

****

John just frowned and it was making Dave anxious. His shoulders were tense and he dipped his head to hide his face from John. The black-haired boy frowned seeing his friend struggle like this and he sort of felt bad, feeling like he sort of cornered him here. He stepped forward, being careful and gentle as he lifted a hand and put it on Dave’s shoulder.

****

Dave flinched, sucking in a sharp breath, but the touch on his arm was gentle and comforting. He didn’t feel stuff like that often if ever at all.

****

“I’ll bring you a small plate okay? If you don’t eat it all, that’s fine, but try to eat a little okay?” John said.

****

Dave lifted his head, catching John’s eyes, and he saw the smile on his friend’s face. It was comforting and made his cold body feel warm for a second. He tried to smile, and he accomplished that a little bit.

****

“It’s okay, I’ll come down and join you guys,” Dave said, and it surprised John.

****

“Really?” He asked, and when Dave nodded John smiled, “Okay! Come on, Dad will be really excited to have another mouth to feed!”

****

John led him out of the room, and Dave didn’t really understand what that meant, but he followed John out the room anyway. They went down the stairs and made their way towards the dining room, and that’s when Dave got nervous.

****

He didn’t own any long sleeved shirts, so his arms were visible. What if John’s Dad asked about the bruises? They were hand shaped, it was obvious it wasn’t an accident, it was obvious someone had grabbed him. Maybe he could bullshit his way through it? No, this was a bad idea. Shit, shit, shit.

****

“Dave, how nice to have you here!” A deeper voice suddenly spoke, and it scared the albino boy. 

****

He flinched and looked to see John’s Dad enter the dining room, a platter of something steaming in his hands; he stepped over to the table where John had already taken a seat and set the platter down in the center.

****

“O-oh, hi Mr. Egbert,” He said, voice trembling a bit and a lot softer than the one he usually spoke with.

****

“How are you doing?” Mr. Egbert asked, voice loud and chipper, much like John’s.

****

“U-um, fine,” Dave said, then he mumbled to himself, “I’m fine…”  
Mr. Egbert watched him curiously, the he gestured towards the table, “Well, take a seat, bud! Don’t be shy!”

****

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry,” Dave grabbed a chair and pulled it out, seating himself in it.

****

Mr. Egbert followed suit, sitting down and removing his hat, as it was rude to eat with a hat still on your head. He looked to Dave who was gripping the sides of his seat anxiously, and he tilted his head to try and see his face, only to see the shades that still covered his eyes.

****

“Dave, could you remove your sunglasses? It’s not polite to eat with those on,” He asked politely, but Dave interpreted it as Mr. Egbert calling him rude.

****

He was quick to oblige, “O-oh, right. Sorry, I’ll… Sorry.”

****

He reached up and took off the glasses, folding them and placing them on the table next to his empty plate. It was silent then and he could feel both Egbert’s eyes on him. They burned, his entire body burned. God, it hurt so bad.

****

“Well, go ahead and make your plates boys! Don’t want the food to get cold!” Mr. Egbert said cheerfully, breaking the tension in the room. 

****

So, that’s what they did. John was quick to make his plate, putting quite the hefty helping on his plate. Dave lifted his head, looking around at the food set before him. Some kind of roasted chicken, roasted vegetables, and warm dinner rolls. It smelled good, it looked better. 

****

He helped himself, almost feeling bad about it, but God he’s so hungry. He put some food on his plate, then he grabbed his fork and knife and, wow. How the hell do you use this? It was awkward and it took him a minute to get a piece of chicken off the bone that was bite size, then he popped it into his mouth.

****

It was bursting with flavor. It was so juicy and savory, and he had no idea what any of these flavors even were, these seasonings, but my God it was the best piece of chicken he’s ever had in his entire life. 

****

He chewed it up and swallowed it, hands gripping his fork and knife tightly as he quickly bowed his head. Why was he feeling like this? He couldn’t even help it. Usually he was able to suppress these feelings, ignore them, but now… he just couldn’t. 

****

Tears fell down his face and couldn’t hide it; he choked on a sob. Both John and his Dad looked at Dave, concern in both of their eyes.

****

“Dave?! Are you okay?!” John asked, setting his utensils down and scooting closer to his friend, “What’s wrong?!”

****

“It’s nothing… It’s just…” Dave choked back another sob before he answered, “It’s so good… I’ve never had a meal like this before… Thank you…”

****

He cried, shoulders shaking and tears flowing. John frowned, looking to his Dad, as if looking for answers. Mr. Egbert grabbed his napkin and wiped his mouth before he got out of his chair and went to sit in a chair closer to Dave.

****

He reached forward, putting a gentle hand on Dave’s wrist where he held his knife; Dave flinched and lifted his head to look at the man’s hand over his wrist. It scared him, his hand was large, similar to his brother’s. The bruises on his arms ached, everything hurt. 

****

“It’s okay, Dave,” Mr. Egbert spoke, “You’re going to be fine.”

****

The touch wasn’t harmful though and it wasn’t applied with force. It was gentle and soothing and set there for comfort. Dave gasped at his words and soon a fresh wave of tears spilled down his cheeks. 

****

He knew. Mr. Egbert knew and right now that was the most comforting thing for him. He put his utensils down, slumping his shoulders and submitting to his emotions, deciding crying wasn’t such a bad idea right now.

****

For the moment, he didn’t even care.

****

He felt a strong and protective arm wrap around his shoulders, and it was suddenly very obvious just how small Dave was. He was dwarfed against Mr. Egbert, his thin frame fragile. He was pulled closer and before he knew it he was crying against Mr. Egbert’s chest, thin fingers clinging to his shirt.

****

A gentle hand found the back of his head, smoothing back his messy hair and soothing him. John relaxed then, even smiling a bit watching this scene unfold before him. He scooted a little closer, looking to his Dad who smiled and nodded, giving him the go ahead.

****

John leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Dave too, and John always did give the best hugs. Dave, in the middle of it all, felt warm and safe for once. So, he cried his eyes out for the next ten minutes, and neither John nor his Dad said anything to stop him. They just let him do what he had to do and they were there for him the whole time.

****

It would take some time, but things would get better day by day, he just needed a little help.

****

Better days were ahead.

****


	2. New Day, New Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave wakes up for once in a nice, warm bed and to a safe home with people who care about his wellbeing. Maybe this is a new start?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice comments on the first chapter! I enjoy writing this a lot and hope you guys enjoy reading it all the same!

He woke up in a bed. A soft and comfortable bed, much more comfortable than the one at his place. His eyes stung a little bit and for a moment he couldn’t think of why, but then the events of yesterday evening suddenly came crashing back into his mind. His brother came home drunk, beat the hell out of him, he came over to John’s house, had dinner with him and his Dad, and… oh.

He had a breakdown at the dinner table.

So, that’s why his eyes stung.

He wiped at them, hoping it would make the burn go away, but it didn’t really help at all. He turned his head then, looking around to see where he was only to find John was curled up next to him and sleeping soundly, that stuffed bunny that had been gifted to him three birthdays ago tucked under his arms securely; it made Dave smile a little.

He turned his head back over to look at the ceiling, and suddenly he realized he’d have to go to school today and then go back home after. He frowned then. He really didn’t want to go home, he knew what would happen if he did. A bit of fear creeped into his body just thinking about it and he clenched his fists where they rested on his stomach as he tried to get out of that anxiety inducing headspace.

“Dave?” John’s groggy voice snapped his attention away, which he was grateful for.

He turned his head to look at his best pal, seeing his eyes half lidded and blinking at him sleepily, curiously; Dave forced a tired smile, “G’mornin’.”

“Morning,” John said before he yawned, then his eyes caught Dave’s again. It was strange seeing Dave’s eyes, the guy always covered them with sunglasses. They were bright red, a mutation. They were pretty though, “How are you feeling?”

Dave shrugged as half assed as he could laying down, “My eyes hurt… Sorry for being totally lame last night. I wasn’t being myself.”

“It’s okay, Dave. I think crying helps sometimes,” John said.

Dave smiled a little bigger then, teasing, “You’re such a dork.”

“Am not!” John defended, practically pouting about it, and it made Dave chuckle.

“Today’s Monday, right? We got school,” Dave said, releasing a tired sigh, “Probably need to get up, huh?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” John said, groaning dramatically.

Dave smirked and nudged John on the arm, sitting up, “Come on, dork.”

John rolled his eyes, “Would you stop calling me that?”

“Never,” Dave said, crawling out of bed.

John huffed, but didn’t say anything else. He just got up and followed Dave in getting out of bed. John smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt, realizing he fell asleep in his school clothes. Oh well, they were dirty anyway. He lifted his head to say something to Dave, only to find the other boy spaced out and distracted by presumably his own thoughts.

John frowned, “Dave?”

“Hm? Huh?” Dave blinked and looked at John, a distant look in his eye for a moment but then they cleared and focused on John’s blue eyes, “Did you say something?”

“Are you okay?” John asked, nasally voice seeming higher than normal; he seemed concerned.

“Oh…” He didn’t really know the answer to that question, “Sorry, I was just realizing that I didn’t bring a change of clothes for today…” He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, “I was in such a rush to leave last night I completely forgot. Pretty stupid of me, huh?”

John frowned, then he shook his head, “No, it’s okay. You can borrow some of my clothes.”

Dave quirked an eyebrow, “Um, will they fit? You’re a little smaller than me.”

“I have some oversized shirts somewhere. You’re fine with wearing the same pants as yesterday right? Cuz I don’t think I have any of those that will fit you,” John said, already walking towards his closet.

“Um, yeah. That’s fine,” Dave said sort of nervously.

He stood awkwardly in the middle of John’s room as the dark haired boy went through some of his shirts, and soon enough he was tossing Dave a black t-shirt that had a Star Wars logo over the front of it, “You can wear this if that’s okay.”

“Uh, yeah. This is dope,” Dave said, and it was only now he realized his face was burning. _Oh my God, why is my face burning?_

“Are you okay?” John asked again, and Dave scrambled for a reply.

“Y-yeah! I’m fine! Totally cool! Just like, wearing my bro’s shirt. Nothing wrong with that, you know? Totally awesome. Haha…” Dave rambled, and _oh my God, can I just shut up for once?_

John didn’t seem perturbed by the senseless line of speech, instead he just smiled, “You’re weird.”

“Haha, I don’t think so. Last time I checked that was you,” Dave retorted.

John rolled his eyes, “Go get in the shower, I’m gunna go see what Dad’s making for breakfast.”

“Okay…” Dave said, watching as John left the room to go downstairs. _His Dad makes breakfast?_ Dave looked down at the shirt in his hands, then he pulled it close and hugged the fabric to him; it smelled like John. This entire house made him feel safe, the people here made him feel safe. This must be what a real family feels like.

After a minute of standing around and wishing he had a home life like this, he finally decided to go find the bathroom. It was just down the hallway, so he found it pretty easily. He closed and locked the door before he turned and caught a glance of himself in the mirror; he looked like shit.

His eyes were puffy, he was pale, he looked absolutely awful. He tried not to look at himself for too long, instead he just turned the shower on and got his day started. No reason for him to dwell on how crappy things are, it wasn’t going to change anything anyway. 

The water was warm and soothing, even made the headache behind his eyes a little more tolerable. He didn’t spend too long in the shower, he had to get downstairs and let John get ready too. So, he quickly washed up and got out, getting dressed and heading downstairs.

Sunglasses back in place over his puffy eyes, he made his way into the kitchen, smelling the pleasant aroma of whatever was being made for breakfast. He spotted John perched on the counter watching his Dad, who was standing in front of the stove and cooking something that was sizzling.

“Smells good, Mr. Egbert. Whatcha making?” Dave asked, voice a little lighter than it had been yesterday.

The man turned to look at Dave and he offered him a soft and kind smile, “Oh, good morning, Dave! I’m making bacon and pancakes! Do you want some?”

Dave smiled a little bit, “Yeah, that’d be great.”

“Well, take a seat. I’ll bring you a plate,” Mr. Egbert told him, taking some bacon out of the pan and putting it on a plate, “You too, John.”

John hopped off the counter and went to join Dave at the table, sitting next to him and smiling at his long time friend, “Looks good on you!”

“Huh--” He realized John was referring to his shirt and suddenly he felt his face burn again, “Oh, th-thanks.”

John giggled just as Mr. Egbert was bringing over two plates and placing them in front of the kids, “Eat up, boys! Need a hearty breakfast to get through the day!”

“Thanks Dad!” John chirped at the same time Dave said, “Thanks, Mr. Egbert.”

They were quick to dig in, and just like last night, the food was delicious. Luckily, this time Dave was able to contain himself and not have a complete breakdown. 

Mr. Egbert took a seat across from them both, and Dave looked up to see he didn’t have a plate and he furrowed his eyebrows curiously, “You’re not eating, Mr. Egbert?”

The man just smiled that always kind smile of his, “No, I never eat breakfast,” Says the man who literally just told them _‘you need hearty breakfast will get you through the day,’_ “Oh, by the way, Dave. There was something I needed to tell you.”

“Okay…” He caught eyes with the man, ceasing eating for a moment to listen to him. He felt John tense up next to him, meaning he probably knew what his Dad was about to say, “Something wrong?”

“Oh, no! Nothing’s wrong! Don’t worry, son!” Mr. Egbert said, calming Dave’s building anxiety, “I just want to let you know I contacted your brother.”

Dave was silent for a moment, his heart starting to race a little faster, “W-what?”

“It’s alright, don’t worry. I just told him I’d be going out of town and I would feel safer if one of John’s friends stayed with him while I was gone,” He explained, but Dave still didn’t understand.

“So… You’re going out of town?” He asked.

“No, I lied,” He said.

Dave furrowed his eyebrows, “I-I don’t get it.”

“I’m not letting you go back to that apartment with him, Dave,” Mr. Egbert said, face suddenly getting serious, “You’re staying here until things get sorted out, alright?”

Dave couldn’t really believe it, and he was still kind of confused, “Sorted… out?”

Mr. Egbert nodded, “I’ll be contacting Child Protective Services and having you removed from the home, Dave.”

Okay, he really couldn’t believe this. He didn’t even know how to feel, he just knew he suddenly had a lump in his throat and tears burning his eyes, “So… I won’t see him again? He won’t…” He stopped to turn his gaze away from Mr. Egbert, swallowing thickly, “...hurt me anymore?”

Mr. Egbert shook his head, “No, he won’t. I promise you that.”

He tried not to cry, he really did, but it looks like he couldn’t avoid crying at this damned table, “I-I… Thank you. I don’t even know what to say. I--”

He was cut off by Mr. Egbert leaning over the table and putting a hand on his head gently, comforting him, “It’s alright, Dave. You’re safe now.”

That did it, he was crying again and Mr. Egbert had his hand on his head and John had his hand on his shoulder and for a moment everything felt like it was going to be okay. And it was, and he cried for a few minutes.

But at least the mood felt lighter this time.

“God, sorry, Mr. Egbert. Maybe one day I won’t cry over your food,” Dave joked through his tears, even offering a little smile.

Mr. Egbert laughed at that and ruffled the boy’s hair, “That’s quite alright, son! No need to apologize for showing your feelings!”

And for some reason, that just made Dave cry more. It was okay though, Mr. Egbert and John were by his side the whole time and for once he felt loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! <3


	3. Friendships, Old And New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave goes to school and meets up with all of his friends, trying to act like nothing happened over the weekend to avoid alarming everyone. Later on that day it appears he's getting a new lab partner in the form of a short and grumpy boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Rose and Kanaya so much you don't understand.

School felt weird today and he wasn’t sure why. He was suddenly extremely self conscious, even though none of his scars were visible. Well, okay. His busted lip was visible, but he was able to hide his bruised eyes with his sunglasses at least. He could come up with an excuse for his lip, like… _I got into a fight with some guys that were picking on a defenseless young girl. You think I look bad? You should see the other guy._ Yeah, that would work.

“Dave, you okay?” John asked for like the fiftieth time that day.

Dave flinched a little as he was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts, but he shrugged it off like it was nothing, “I’m fine, Egbert. How many more time are you gunna ask me that today?”

“Sorry, I’m just worried…” John said where he sat next to Dave at the table they were eating lunch at.

Dave had been on edge all day, wondering if someone would mention something to him about his demeanor, but so far so good. He was with John right now, so things could continue to go smoothly. Just him and his old pal-- and oh great, here comes Rose.

“Hey boys,” She spoke with her voice smooth as lace as she approached the table, food tray in hand as she took a seat next to Dave, “How was your weekend?”

Rose Lalonde was one of the smartest kids in school, and she wasn’t slow to brag about it, but somehow she never came off as an asshole about it either. Nobody ever said anything to her about it anyway. But, that might be because she could be quite intimidating with her goth fashion sense. It took the right person to pull off black lipstick.

“Fine,” Dave muttered, which was already out of character for him.

Rose watched him curiously, but before she could say anything else her partner in crime showed up in the form of Kanaya Maryam, “Hello Dave. John.”

“Hi Kanaya!” John chirped, smiling happily.

She took a seat next to Rose, peering around at the other two, and she did a double take at Dave, “Dave, what happened to your lip?”

And there it was. Finally, “Oh, um. I uh…”

“I was getting picked on over the weekend and Dave and the other guy got into a fight,” John explained, “It was pretty intense, but Dave’s okay! Right Dave?”

“Um…” He looked between the girls, then he forced a small smile and replied, “Right.”

Rose and Kanaya were smart, incredibly so. Dave was a crappy liar, and John wasn’t much better, they had to see right through that. Either way though, neither of them said anything besides Rose’s, “Didn’t take you for much of a fighter, Dave.”

“Haha, well, you know. Don’t pick on my friends,” God, he felt so awkward right now. _Change the subject, Strider,_ “Anyway, enough about me. How was your weekend?”

“Nothing of interest happened. Me and Kanaya got together and studied for the Winter final, and then we brainstormed some ideas for our writings,” Rose said.

“You mean your Harry Potter fanfictions?” Dave teased.

“JK Rowling doesn’t deserve the rights to Harry Potter anymore Dave, and you know it,” Rose shot right back, then she cleared her throat and continued, “Anyway, our rewrite is going well.”

Dave chuckled and poked at his crappy cafeteria pasta, not really all that hungry, which Rose seemed to notice, “It’s not like you to not eat lunch. You’re usually scarfing it up. Are you feeling okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I spent the night at John’s and his Dad made a big breakfast, so I’m still pretty full,” Dave said, and it wasn’t even a lie. He was full. He never had breakfast like that, or breakfast at all really, so usually he ate as much as he could at lunch because he more often than not didn’t get dinner either.

“Dad always makes the best bacon,” John said with a happy smile, “Dave ate it right up!”

“Well of course I did, it’s fucking bacon. I’d have to be some kind of monster to not eat bacon,” Dave said, then added, “Or like, Jewish or Muslim or something. You guys don’t eat pork, right?”

“No, not traditionally, but I’m not practicing,” Rose said with a shrug.

“I don’t eat pork, no. But I’ve always wondered what the hype around it all is,” Kanaya said, resting her chin in her palm, “But then again it just looks to be a fatty and greasy piece of meat, so I’ll continue to pass.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing, man,” Dave said, continuing to poke at his food.

“Hey losers,” A boy with a heavy lisp suddenly pushed his way into the conversation, sliding his tray onto the table and sitting across from them all.

“Hello Sollux. Glad to see you’re in a good mood,” Kanaya said, voice deadpan but he could tell she was being sarcastic; he huffed.

“Tuna had his girlfriend over all weekend and they’re loud as fuck,” He said, leaning back in his chair, the front legs pulling off the ground.

“Oh, were they now?” Dave wiggled his eyebrows.

“Not like that, you pervert!” Sollux snapped, glaring at the other boy, “They play video games late at night and they yell. College kids are so annoying.”

“You’re going to be a college kid someday, Sollux,” Kanaya reminded him, only for him to roll his eyes and scoff.

“As if,” He replied, crossing his arms and rocking his chair back and forth, “College isn’t really my style. Besides, have you seen my grades? They’re nothing to write home about.”

“You’re smart, Sollux. I think if you worked hard you could go,” Kanaya told him, trying to give him a little pick me up.

“It’s not just that, Kanaya. I’ve told you I’m not going to college just because it’s not my thing,” Sollux said.

“But like, that Eridan guy is really intent on going to college right? Don’t you two have a thing going on?” Dave asked, waving his fork around as he spoke.

Sollux seemed perpetually offended by that, eyebrows furrowing and hands slamming on the table as he glared at Dave, “We’re not a thing, Strider! Stop saying we are!”

“Damn, why so defensive about it then?” Dave went on.

“Because he’s an insufferable prick, dickwad!” Sollux snapped, then he realized just how up in arms he was about all of this and he huffed and fell back in his chair again, crossing his arms, “I’m not here to talk about Eridan fucking Ampora, I actually came over here to ask you about this.”

“What, you didn’t come over to just hang out with your best pals?” Dave asked sarcastically but Sollux just rolled his eyes.

“Any of you lamewads going to the Winter Dance?” He asked, avoiding looking at them as he asked, acting nonchalant.

“A dance? Didn’t think this was _‘your style,’”_ Rose mocked.

“It’s not, AA told me to ask you,” Sollux said, shrugging.

“Aradia, huh?” Kanaya leaned forward a bit, giving Sollux a knowing look, “What’s the story behind that one?”

Sollux actually blushed a little at that, “N-nothing, we’re just friends, okay?”

“I never said you weren’t,” Kanaya said with an almost smug smile; Sollux narrowed his eyes at her.

“So, you want to--sorry-- _Aradia,_ wants to know if we want to to this dance thing?” Dave asked, grabbing the flyer and looking it over, “Fancy dress, will be catered, five dollar fee. Sounds lame.”

“No, hang on, Dave! It could be fun!” John suddenly chirped, grabbing the flyer from Dave’s hands and beaming, “Hey! I have a suit I haven’t worn yet! Maybe I could wear it to this!”

“You’re seriously interested in going to this lame dance?” Dave questioned, one eyebrow quirked, “Shouldn’t be surprised. You always were a dork.”

“Hey! I told you to stop calling me that!” John snapped with a pout.

“In your dreams, Egbert,” Dave replied smoothly.

“I don’t know, maybe it could be fun?” Kanaya said with a shrug, “Decent food, some dancing, maybe we should go?”

“Wait, you really want to go to this, Kanaya?” Rose asked, and the taller girl turned to her and shrugged again.

“I don’t see why not. You like dancing, don’t you, Rose?” She asked, blinking her long eyelashes at her.

Rose felt her face burn a little and she quickly turned her head away and cleared her throat, “W-well, I guess it could be fun. We could all hang out and--”

Dave suddenly yawned and cut her off, stretching his arms above his head dramatically, which he soon came to regret because now he was wincing; he completely forgot about the bruises for a second there. His friends were distracting him. He was able to play it off luckily, “I don’t know, sounds boring as hell.”

“Oh, come on, Dave! It’ll be so fun! We can wear suits and eat crappy food! It’ll be so cool!” John seemed rather excited about this, but John always got excited about nerdy things, so this wasn’t surprising.

Dave frowned, sitting up a little straighter now, “John, I… don’t own anything fancy.”

“Really?” John asked, tilting his head curiously; he quickly realized, “Oh.”

“Don’t worry, Dave! We can go shopping!” A new voice suddenly chirped, grabbing Dave’s shoulders and leaning over him to look him in the eyes.

He flinched and scrambled to keep his chair upright, “Jesus! How many more of you are gunna show up?”

Jade giggled and twirled around to stand at the end of the table, looking at all of her friends with a big smile on her face, “My grandpa just gave me my allowance! Maybe we can go shopping this weekend?”

“Um…” Dave’s hands fidgeted nervously, he didn’t really know what to say, “Uh…” 

Luckily their time was up; the bell rang.

“Oh, we better get going. Don’t want to be late for Ms. Serket’s class,” Rose said, standing and taking her tray with her.

Kanaya rolled her eyes, “Even I can’t stand her constant blabbering.”

“Yeah, I gotta get going too,” Dave said, standing quickly, “I think we’re being assigned new lab partners this week.”

“Hm? We’re nearing the end of the semester, why are they assigning you new lab partners?” Rose asked curiously.

Dave shrugged, “Not everybody’s lab partners, just a couple kids. There was a few bad eggs in class and they got suspended, so…”

“Oh, I see,” Rose said, “Well, good luck. I hope you don’t get stuck with a loser.”

Dave snickered, “Thanks. Same.”

“We’ll see you all later,” Kanaya said, “Maybe we can go roller skating later?”

“Ooh, that sounds fun!” Jade chirped, hopping happily.

“Lame,” Sollux said, standing and starting to leave.

“So, you’ll be there?” Kanaya called after him.

He lifted a middle finger, “Yeah.”

She smiled and nudged Rose, “Come on, let’s get moving.”

“Yes,” Rose nodded, then she looked at her friends, “See you later Dave. John. You too, Jade.”

“Bye-bye!” Jade chirped, followed by John saying, “Bye!”

“See ya,” Dave said, then he waved at the other two, “See you guys later, gotta get going.”

John stepped forward, grabbing Dave’s shirt and stopping him, “You’re alright?”

Dave smirked, “What did I tell you about asking me that over and over?”

“Oh right… sorry,” John said, looking down at his feet sheepishly.

Dave just rolled his eyes and nudged John with his elbow, “I’ll see you at the skating rink later.”

He then stepped away to discard his tray and head to class, leaving John smiling and joining Jade to walk to class together.

\---

Science was probably Dave’s favorite class, he was always very interested in it, Biology specifically. So, he never dreaded going to this class, not that he dreaded a lot of his classes. He liked to pretend school was lame as hell, but secretly Dave Strider quite enjoyed learning. He just… sometimes had a hard time doing so. Not his fault… That’s not what his brother thought, though.

_Okay, we’re not going down that train of thought right now. Enjoy the day, things are getting sorted out. It’ll be okay._

He took a deep breath and stepped into the classroom, ignoring the general chaos of high schoolers blabbering and going to find his seat. He sat next to his lab partner, just some random guy that he didn’t really talk to in or out of class. His partner looked half asleep, and when Dave set his bag down the sound woke the darker haired boy up; he glared at Dave.

“Sorry,” He replied, only for the other boy to just ignore him and try to fall back asleep, except he couldn’t, because their teacher chose that time to come into the room.

“Good afternoon, kids,” He said rather cheerfully as he stepped inside, the rest of the class chorusing a ‘good afternoon’ back at him, “As you all know, we’re switching some of you around today. I wrote down over the weekend who would be with who, so let’s just go ahead and get that over with.”

He went on to switch a few partners, but Dave tuned him out and went to get out his book and flip to the last chapter he remembers going through. He remembers learning about fossil exploration or something last week and their teacher mentioned something about showing them actual fossils sometime this week. He was pretty excited about it actually.

“…will be joining Mr. Strider,” He lifted his head hearing his name spoken, and suddenly his lab partner was standing and moving somewhere else. Oh, was he getting a new partner? Maybe he’ll be more helpful than sleepy.

Somebody sat down next to him, a dark haired boy who looked like he hadn’t actually brushed his hair that morning. He was short in stature and wore a baggy black hoody, his feet didn’t even touch the ground as he sat on the stool. And he must’ve noticed Dave’s eyes on him for an uncomfortable amount of time.

He turned to look at him, looking him up and down with what seemed like disgust as he glared and snapped, “What are you looking at, fuckass?”

Okay, this was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!! <3


	4. Bathroom Stalls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day was going well enough. His new lab partner is interesting, he's going skating with his friends. It's a good day, what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice comments! I really appreciate them! You guys are dope! <3

His new lab partner was named Karkat Vantas and he was the grumpiest and most amusing person Dave had ever met. He looked tired as hell, he spoke with a raspy voice as if he yelled all the time, and he wore clothes that were much too big for him. And Dave was weirdly drawn to all of that.

They didn’t talk much today, unless you count Karkat calling him “fuckass” about four times and Dave asking him to “pass the tissue box.” The bell rant after about an hour and they were able to leave, and Dave watched the boy walk down the hallway the opposite direction he had to go.

He didn’t exactly understand why he felt sort of attached to the other boy, but he brushed it off to just simple fascination. Dave was entertained quite easily, and Karkat was an entertaining guy to be around. Maybe tomorrow they could actually talk a little?

Dave had to go to two more classes after Science, and the day seemed to go by pretty quickly after that. Soon enough, he was meeting up with his friends outside the front of school; all of them seemed to be waiting for him.

“There you are!” Jade Harley’s chipper voice spoke as soon as he came into eye’s view of them, “Where’ve you been, slowpoke?”

“Oh, sorry. Guess I got lost in thought,” Dave said, which wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Well, everyone’s here, so let’s get going,” Rose said, hands grabbing the handles of her backpack before she turned and started towards the sidewalk with Kanaya.

Jade followed them too, a bounce in her step and Dave lagged behind and asked, “Where’s Sollux?”

“Hm?” Kanaya turned her head to answer his question, “Oh, he went ahead without us. You know how he is.”

He could imagine Sollux getting grumpy about waiting for him to show up and storming off, sounds very like him. He grabbed one of the straps of his backpack as it started to slide off of his shoulder, and soon enough John had slowed his pace to walk alongside him.

“Hey Dave,” John said a bit quietly.

Dave sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “I swear to God if you ask me if I’m okay again I’m tearing your buckteeth out of your mouth and making a necklace.”

“Ugh, sorry. I’ve just been really worried lately,” He said, slumping his shoulders a bit.

“About me?” Dave asked, then he shrugged, “I’m fine, Egbert. Always am.”

John narrowed his eyes just slightly, “You always say that, you know it’s okay to--”

“Oh Dave, how was Science Lab? You weren’t one of the unlucky bastards who got a new partner, were you?” Rose asked, cutting John off, which Dave was thankful for. He really didn’t feel like going down a road of depression right now.

“I was,” Dave told her, picking up the pace a bit so he was closer to his other friends, “But he at least seems better than my old lab partner. He actually helps me and shit, so that’s dope.”

“Oh? Well that’s good,” Rose said, “You seem to like him.”

What? How did she get that out of what he just told her? He barely said a word about the guy. Rose Lalonde and her weird social magic, “I guess? I don’t know, I don’t know much about the guy. He cusses a lot though, maybe a little too much.”

“What’s his name?” Kanaya asked, seeming curious all the sudden.

“Um… Karkat something? I don’t know,” Dave answered, and Kanaya nodded in understanding.

“Karkat Vantas,” She said.

Dave’s eyes widened a bit under his shades, “You know him?”

She nodded, “Yes, he’s an old friend of mine. He and his family just moved here over the Summer, but we lived in the same neighborhood when we were little. We kept in touch over social media and now he’s moved back here for good. Or so I hear.”

Well, they seem to be close.

“That’s cool,” Dave said, adjusting his shoulders so his loose backpack handles didn’t fall off of him, “...What’s he like?”

Kanaya simply shrugged, “Grumpy, loud, easily frustrated. But that’s just what he lets other people see, he’s actually quite sweet and kind as well.”

“Well maybe I can break down to that level and maybe he’ll stop calling me fuckass every ten seconds,” Dave said, which made Kanaya snicker.

“Yes, that sounds like him,” Kanaya said with a smile, “Good luck on your endeavor, it won’t be an easy one.”

“Look who you’re talking to,” Rose chipped in.

“I guess you’re right,” Kanaya said thoughtfully.

“Look! We’re almost there!” Jade said, pointing forward.

She was right, they were almost there. The crosswalk to the edge of downtown was just up ahead and right there was the skating rink. A lot of high schoolers hung out around here. There was the skating rink, a theater, an arcade, and a few stores. It was a fun place to go after school, and they came here often.

Jade skipped ahead and pushed the button on the crosswalk, and they all stopped behind her and waited for it to turn green. John still seemed like he wanted to talk to Dave about some stuff, but Dave was strictly avoiding it. 

The light turned green after a minute or so, and they all started walking across the street. It only took them a couple more minutes to get to the rink, and once they were inside they were met with loud music, teenagers chattering, and roller-skates on wood. 

“There you guys are. I was wondering when you’d finally show up,” Sollux said as they stepped into the building, “I thought you all died or something.”

“All five of us? That’s unlikely,” Kanaya said, then she shrugged, “Unless a meteor hit the planet or something, but then you’d be dead too.”

“God, you’re so creepy,” Sollux said, walking over to them with his hands in his pockets; he leaned against the window to the ticket booth, standing behind it was his brother’s girlfriend, “Hey Tula, we can get a discount right?”

She leaned forward and smiled at him, ruffling his hair to annoy him, “Don’t think so, squirt.”

“Ugh,” He grumbled, pushing her hand away before he dug into his pocket, pulling out some cash and tossing it up onto the counter, “There goes my lunch money for tomorrow.”

Latula giggled and took his money, putting it in the register before she handed him his ticket, “Here ya go. And you four are gunna cough up some too, aren’t you?”

All of them grumbled something and Latula just smiled and rested her chin in her palms as they all placed some money on the counter. She snickered and pulled it all towards her, putting it in the register before she handed them all their tickets and wiggled her fingers at them, “Have fun.”

They all grumbled at her as they walked into the rink after Sollux, then they all stepped over to the counter to get their skates. Standing there just receiving hers was Terezi Pyrope; Sollux spoke to her as soon as they approached.

“TZ, did I ever tell you your sister is a bitch?” He asked, hands in his pockets again as he stopped next to her.

She smiled when she saw him, that swarmy smile she was always wearing as she leaned her elbow on the counter, “As if I don’t know that already?”

“Touche,” Sollux said, showing the guy behind the counter his ticket and getting his skates, “Where’s your girlfriend?”

Terezi shrugged, “Bathroom. She’ll be out here soon.”

“Great, plenty of time for me to get away,” Sollux said, taking his skates and going to one of the benches to put them on.

“That’s mean! I like Vriska!” John said, stepping over to get his skates as well.

“That’s just cuz you used to have a crush on her,” Terezi teased before she tossed an arm around John’s shoulders, “Sorry pal, but you’re too late to be worming your way in now.”

John crossed his arms and pouted, “Hey! I never had a crush on her, she had a crush on me!”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, buddy,” Terezi said, patting John on the back before she took her skates and stepped over to the others, “Hey losers, how’s it hanging?”

“Everything is hanging quite fine,” Kanaya said in her proper tone, and it made Dave snicker, “But Terezi, is skating really such a good idea after what happened last time?”

Kanaya’s gaze traveled to the shorter girl’s arm in a sling, her roller skates dangling from her healthy hand. Terezi rolled her eyes behind her glasses, “Oh, come on, Kanaya! Can’t a blind girl roller skate to relieve some stress?”

“I’d advise against it,” Came the lisping voice of Sollux as he tied his skates up.

“Shut up, eboy,” Terezi snapped before she turned back to Kanaya, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine! It’s not all that busy today anyway so there’s no one to run into!”

“There’s a couple of little kids here, TZ. Don’t go running them over,” Sollux said, standing now.

“Hey, that happened one time!” Terezi snapped, feeling her way over to the bench and after Sollux.

The rest got their skates and put them on before they followed Sollux and Terezi onto the rink. They were all pretty decent skaters, they came here often, usually on weekends. If they weren’t bowling anyway. The worst at it was probably John, but he’s clumsy at most things anyway.

Dave though, he was pretty good. He was a graceful kid when it came to physical activity, the same couldn’t be said about emotional talk, but that’s a talk for another time. Dave was known to be able to do a few simple tricks, but nothing too fancy. It usually seemed to impress the ticket handler Latula and her boyfriend Mituna though. He wasn’t here today actually, which was odd. He was usually here when his girlfriend was working.

“Hey Sollux!” Dave called to the skinny boy a few feet ahead of him, “Where’s your brother? He’s usually cheering me on!”

“Oh, he went to take another drivers test!” Sollux called back.

Dave quirked an eyebrow, “Again?”

Sollux shrugged as he skated backwards so he could talk to Dave, “You’ve been in a car with him before! He’s insane!”

Dave shrugged, “I always thought it was fun!”

Sollux shook his head and turned around to continue skating, “You’re insane, too!”

Dave smirked and watched the other boy skate a bit faster to catch up with Kanaya and Rose, ruining… whatever it was those two had going on. It was obvious they had a thing for each other, Dave was just placing bets on who would confess first and when.

“Whoa!” A loud and panicked voice caught his attention, and he turned just in time to grab John’s arm and catch him before he fell face first onto the hard floor, “Oh! Thanks Dave! Don’t know what I’d do without you!”

“You’d surely be having more passionate make out sessions with the floor,” Dave commented deadpan.

“Hehe, you’re probably right,” John chuckled, then they both fell into silence for a moment.

It was awkward, and Dave knew what John wanted. He wanted to talk about everything that had happened. While Dave has had a couple of breakdowns, he’s only really cried and been comforted. He’s not really actually… talked about anything. To be honest, he really didn’t want to. He’s never been good at talking about what he’s feeling, and he just wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about anything anyway.

It was all so fresh, and if he was being honest with himself, he was still a little scared.

“Dave, I think we should--”

“John,” Dave cut him off, skidding to a stop, John doing the same.

John blinked curiously at his friend, eyebrows furrowing as he watched Dave look around nervously, “Dave? Are you--”

“Come here,” Dave grabbed his hand and pulled him off the rink and back onto the carpet, not wanting to have this conversation in the middle of where all his friends were; he really didn’t want them knowing about this, not yet.

They stood next to the low bearing wall right outside the rink, their friends still skating around and oblivious to their absence for the time being. Dave looked at John, a look on his face that wasn’t deadpan for once.

“Dave, are you okay?” John asked in worry.

“I’m fine, I just need to get something off my chest,” Dave said before he just outright said it, “I know you want to talk about what happened and want me to open up, but… I don’t think I’m ready for that yet, okay? Some heavy shit happened and you know I’m not one of those guys who’s hella chill with feelings jams and all that shit. So just… give me some time, okay? We’ll talk about everything eventually, I just need to… cope with it all first, alright?”

John was actually surprised by Dave’s words. That was quite the mouthful. But… he did understand. He’d probably not been helping Dave with how he’s been acting, and he felt bad for it. He frowned and lowered his head, avoiding Dave’s eyes, “I’m sorry, Dave. I shouldn’t keep pressuring you to talk about something you’re not comfortable or ready to talk about.”

Dave kind of shuffled uncomfortably; things were getting a little too “feely” for him, “Uh, hey. It’s okay, I know you’re just worried about me.”

“Yeah, I know. But still…” John said, trailing off.

There was a moment of silence, and it felt quite awkward. To Dave, at least. Why does everything always feel so awkward to him? Can’t he just have a normal conversation without feeling weird about it? 

“Can you just promise me something?” John spoke again.

“Uh… yeah,” Dave said, kind of zoned out at this point with self-deprecating thoughts.

“Let me know when you’re ready to talk about it. Don’t keep yourself all closed up,” John said, looking Dave in the eyes, an almost serious look on his face, “Just… let me know okay? I’m ready to talk any time.”

Dave was silent. He doesn’t really know why any of that surprised him, he knows how John is. He’s a good guy, really caring and kind. He’d always be there for him. What he also couldn’t understand was why his face was so warm.

John seemed confused by that too, “Dave? Are you okay? You’re red.”

“Uh…” He didn’t know what to say because he couldn’t even think straight. _Why is this so awkward, why am I blushing? What the hell is-- Oh my God, I’m still holding his hand._

He pulled his hand out of John’s quickly, maybe a little too quickly because things suddenly seemed so much more awkward. His face was burning and he really didn’t like this. He started chuckling nervously, “Y-yeah, I’m fine. I just uh, gotta go to the bathroom. I drank a whole Pepsi at school before we left and the tank is full. Haha…” Okay, that was painstakingly embarrassing as fuck, “Anyway, I’ll be right back.”

“O…kay?” John said, watching as his friend awkwardly stepped over to the bench and quickly discarded his skates before he fast walked to the bathroom in his socks.

The bathroom was luckily empty when he crashed into it, but it might not be for long, so he quickly found a stall and stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind him. He sat down on the toilet and tried to breathe, wondering just what the hell happened out there.

It was just a regular conversation between a couple of bros, right? So why the hell did he get so red and flustered about John’s palm pressed against his? All John was basically saying was that he cared about him, so why did that make his chest feel so warm? God, everything is so confusing right now.

This isn’t… a crush or…

_No, come on Dave. Get your shit together. There’s not way you can possibly have a thing for John. John Egbert. The dorkiest guy you know. He likes shitty movies and collects nerd things and his jokes are bad and he always laughs at his own jokes anyway. Not to say that him laughing is bad, his laughing is actually quite nice. I sure have always like the sound of it, and--_

_Dave what the actual fuck are you thinking right now?_

Okay, it appears he’s got more than one or two issues to deal with. His life just keeps getting more confusing and he had no idea how to make it all stop. 

John told him to come to him when he wanted to talk, but he couldn’t talk to John about this! He couldn’t! He’d hate him! He didn’t want John to hate him because he didn’t want to lose the one person he could be vulnerable around. _God, this sucked._

_Okay, when the fuck did I start crying? Why am I even crying? This isn’t such a big deal, right? So what I kind of liked holding John’s hand or think he looks cute or… Oh Jesus Christ, I’m gay as hell. But no. I like girls too, right? Yeah, I had a crush on Jade a while ago. It didn’t last long… but still! And I had that massive crush on a girl back in middle school! What was her name? Lily! She was cute! You really liked her, Dave._

_Oh my God, this isn’t any better. Now I like girls and boys? Add to the laundry list of shit that makes me different from everyone else. What would John think? His Dad? Would they hate me too? I don’t want anyone else to hate me, I’ve already got to deal with that from my own family and… Oh God, what if Bro finds out?_

_Shit, shit, shit. He can’t find out, he can’t. He’ll hurt me again, I don’t want that to happen. I still hurt from the other night, my body is so bruised up. God, now that I’m thinking about it, it hurts so bad. How have I gotten through the past few days? It hurts to walk, it hurts to move. Ow, my ribs…_

He couldn’t stop crying and soon it turned into sobbing, which is why his ribs began to hurt. He wrapped his arms around himself, as if trying to hold himself together as his body wracked with painful sobs. 

_God, this sucks._

He heard the door to the bathroom squeak, signaling somebody had come in. He held his breath to stop the sounds of his sobs, but he still hiccupped every now and again which he hated. _Please hurry up and leave. This sucks so bad._

“Dave?” The voice spoke his name, and it was a very familiar voice. A voice he heard almost every day. _Shit._

It’s Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! <3


	5. A Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose finds Dave in the bathroom having a panic attack and tries to deescalate the situation to the best of her ability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day? I'm thriving. I really like this one and I hope you guys do too!

“Dave?” Rose called for him when she stepped into the bathroom, a hint of concern in her voice.

 _Shit, shit, shit. Why is she here?_ This is the last thing he needed right now. _Fuck, fuck. What do I do? What do I do?_

“Dave? I know you’re in here,” Rose said, voice calm as usual, “I saw you rush in here. John didn’t tell me anything, so don’t blame him.”

_God dammit, go away. I don’t want you here right now. Why are you even in here? This is the men’s room._

He heard the girl sigh, and for a minute he thought maybe she left, but that turned out not to be true when he heard a gentle knocking on the stall door. He flinched at the sudden sound, and Rose spoke again, “Are you okay?”

Dave tried to be quiet as he sniffled and tried wiping at his face; if only she hadn’t come in here mid sob. His voice shook as he spoke, “I-I’m fine.”

Obviously not. Didn’t even sound like he tried to make that sound believable. _Fuck._

Rose was silent, and he really hoped she left but he knew she didn’t. She wasn’t like that. She could be cold and sort of anti-social, but she wasn’t one to leave her friends behind when she knew something was wrong. Sadly, Dave wishes she wasn’t so caring right now. He really wanted to be alone.

Okay, that was a lie. He didn’t want to be alone, but he didn’t want someone else to see him like… this. God, this just all sucks so bad. This was supposed to be fun. They were going to skate, everything would be great. It was supposed to take his mind off of all the bad shit that happened to him over the weekend. 

“Dave, I don’t mean to be that guy, but it sounds like you’re crying,” Rose said. She’s so straightforward and it’s a good and bad thing.

Dave sniffled, giving up. She knew now, there’s no reason to hide it. He did throw an attitude though, “What do you want, Rose? And why are you even in here? This is the men’s restroom.”

“We’re the only ones in here anyway, so why does it matter?” Rose questioned, and Dave just sighed in response, “Do you want to talk about what’s gotten you so upset?”

Dave pulled his feet from off the floor, instead pulling them up onto the toilet seat with him and wrapping his arms around them. This was really quite uncomfortable because of the way he had to sit so he didn’t fall in, but he didn’t really care. He wanted to rest his head on something because it suddenly hurt so bad, and his knees were his only option right now.

“Not really,” He said, then added, “It’s a pain in the ass, I don’t want you to have to deal with it.”

“And why not?” Rose asked, seeming genuinely curious.

Dave shrugged, then he remembered she couldn’t see him, so he answered with, “It’s just… a lot, okay? I don’t wanna talk about it right now.”

“Hm,” Rose said, then Dave saw her feet under the stall door move, turning around; for a moment he thought she’d leave, but she didn’t. Instead, she adjusted her skirt and sat down on the floor outside the door, leaning back against it, “Okay. Then let’s not talk about it. Let’s talk about something else.”

Dave sniffled again, “W-what?”

“Your new lab partner,” Rose went on without giving explanation, “Tell me about him.”

“What? I-I…” He didn’t get it, what is she trying to do here?

“Kanaya has told me a little about him before, but never went into a lot of detail,” Rose said, shrugging, “I just figured since he’s Kanaya’s good friend, he might be joining our little group soon. Especially now that you know him too. So, tell me about him.”

It took a minute to realize she was trying to distract him. He felt a little awkward about this at first, but it was better than talking about Bro and his weird and confusing feelings for John, so this he would talk about.

“I-I don’t know much about him,” Dave tried, fidgeting uncomfortably as he tried to get his mind off of all the horrible thoughts he seemed to always have, “He’s an asshole, that’s the main thing I noticed… He says ‘fuck’ a lot, he just kinda doesn’t seem to really be super hyped about class, which is fine I guess… School is kinda lame sometimes.”

“I see,” Rose said, “So, he’s grumpy and hates school. Sounds like an average high schooler to me.”

Dave shrugged, “I guess, but… he seems a little different than the others. I don’t know why, he just does…”

“Hm, I see…” Rose said, fighting a smirk fighting at her lips, “What’s he look like?”

“Um…” Dave thought about it, trying to picture the other boy in his mind, “His hair is all over the damn place, don’t think he brushes it. He’s small, maybe just a little taller than you. Um… He was wearing this big red hoody, it was way too big for him. His eyes are, uh…”

He felt his face burn a bit. _Oh my God, the new kid you barely even know, too? Stupid puppy love._ Dave resisted the urge to smack himself in the face, instead he turned it around on Rose, “Why are you asking me all of this? If he’s Kanaya’s ‘good friend’ then you probably know all about him already, knowing how close you two are.”

Rose smiled, “Maybe. I just wanted to get you talking.”

Dave shifted uncomfortably, not really sure what to say. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to say anything. Rose kept talking for him, “I’ve been able to tell some stuff has been bothering you, you know? You try to act tough, but I know things bother you.”

Dave looked down at the floor, seeing Rose sitting just outside the door. He was tense as he listened to her. _Has she figured everything out about me?_ It wouldn’t really surprise him, she was a smart girl. She was always very good at reading everyone, even him. 

“But you said you didn’t want to talk about that right now, and I’m going to respect the boundaries you’ve set in place for yourself,” Rose said, seeming incredibly comfortable in this situation.

She was giving him room to talk or not, letting him know it was okay to say what he wanted to or keep it all in at that moment. He was grateful for that, and it was calming him down a little bit. He felt his shoulders release a bit of the tension they were holding, though his heart was still racing as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Do you ever question everything you’ve ever thought about yourself?” Wow, he didn’t expect to go that deep but here he was.

“Wow, to be honest I was not expecting something like that out of you,” Rose commented, seeming almost amused.

“Yeah, I know right? It felt weird on my end too,” Dave said, actually able to chuckle a little, but it still felt forced.

“That’s fine, I understand what you mean,” She told him.

He was a bit surprised by that, “You do?”

“Yes,” She responded, “Being a teenager is hard. We’re all figuring ourselves out and we start to question everything we’ve ever thought or knew. Sometimes things aren’t always what they seem at first glance.”

Well… that sure made a lot of sense. That meant the way he thought he was when he was younger and before all of this, maybe it wasn’t what it seemed? Maybe the way he feels now is valid? But on the other hand, wouldn’t these new feelings be a first glance too? What if they’re wrong?

“I can practically hear the gears turning in your head,” Rose said, and he could hear the smile on her face, “What’s on your mind, Dave?”

Dave shifted uncomfortably again. He wanted to tell her, he really did, but… what if she disagreed? What if she hated him? There were so many bad outcomes to this situation, but only one good one. He thought maybe she and Kanaya had something going on, but what does he know? In this moment, the only thing washing over him was fear of the unknown. He’d never told anybody about this and to be fair, he’d only just accepted it himself.

The amount of time he’s had to himself where he’s denied the way he feels is… immeasurable. 

“I’ve been… having feelings lately,” He told her.

His heart is racing so fast.

“Mhm. What kind of feelings?” Rose asked; she was smart, she had to know where this was going.

“Uh…” _Come on Dave, just spit it out,_ “Well, do you ever see this person and you’re like ‘damn, this dude is so amazing and I want to spend more time with this guy,’ but then something completely unexpected happens because then you meet this other person and then you’re like ‘whoa, this dude is a lot different than the other guy but I kinda dig what this dude’s got going on too,’ and then everything is so confusing and you don’t even know what you like anymore because there’s two cool ass people right in front of you and you like both of them and if anyone else found out about it they’d probably hate you because--”

“Dave,” Rose cut him off, knowing if he kept rambling like that he’d send himself into even more panic.

Dave took a deep breath, closing his eyes and calming himself before he put his feet down and leaned forward. He unlocked the door, which Rose heard, and she moved away a little so he could open it. The stall door opened revealing Dave Strider, a little worse for wear with tear tracks staining his face, but he still opened the door and let her see his face.

“Rose,” He spoke her name, and she caught his eyes; his expression looked nervous but serious, and when he spoke she couldn’t help but be surprised, “I think I’m bi.”

She blinked in surprise. She… actually couldn’t believe he told her. She wasn’t expecting this development, but my God she was so proud of him. He was tense and he looked afraid, and it was now that she realized he was scared of what her reaction would be. So, she smiled.

“Well, as long as we’re all sharing secrets here,” She released the tension in her shoulders as well and smiled as she told him, “I’m a lesbian.”

Dave started to cry, and Rose smiled softly when he did. She got to her feet, smoothing out her skirt before she stepped into the stall with him. She reached out for him, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him to her. He buried his face in her shoulder as she hugged him, rubbing soothing circles in his back.

For once, Dave felt light. He finally told somebody, and she didn’t judge him or hate him. She just… She gave him a hug and she was telling him everything would be okay, and he actually believed her. 

Dave eventually stopped sobbing and resorted to sniffling and the occasional hiccup, and that’s when Rose giggled, “I thought you knew about me.”

Dave half ass shrugged against her, “I had my suspicions.”

Rose giggled again, then she smoothed Dave’s hair back and asked, “Feeling any better?”

He was silent for a minute, then he spoke with a muffled voice, his face still buried in her shoulder, “I was terrified of telling anybody.”

That was understandable, “I know.”

“I thought you’d hate me or something…” Dave said, then he shrugged, “You’re the only person who knows. Not even John knows.”

“That’s not surprising,” Rose said, then she shrugged and smiled as she teased, “Considering you used to have a massive crush on him in middle school.”

She’d never seen Dave move so fast. He pulled away from her quickly, sunglasses askew where she could see his eyes and boy were they looking at her with shock and denial, “W-what?! Me and John?! Rose, please! Are you even listening to yourself?!”

He was laughing awkwardly like he always does when he’s anxious, and she smiled and rolled her eyes, “Oh please, even from the distance I was standing at I could see how red your face was just because you were holding his hand.”

“You saw that?!” Dave cried in a panic, “D-did anyone else see?! Oh God…”

“Relax, I’m fairly certain no one else was even paying attention,” She assured him, “Besides… You know nobody out there would hate you because of this. They’d only support you. You’re our friend.”

Dave lowered his head and pushed his glasses back into place to hide his eyes from her view; the eyes gave away way too much about a person, “I know, but it’s just… hard.”

“I know. I get that,” She said, shrugging, “You’re the first person I’ve told, too.”

That actually surprised Dave, “Wait, really? Not even Kanaya knows?”

“Dave,” She gave him a look that said _‘really?’_

“Oh… right,” Dave chuckled then, rubbing the back of his neck, “I guess same reason I haven’t told John, huh?”

“Right,” Rose said through a giggle.

Dave was silent for a moment then, fingers twitching at his sides nervously, “Are you ever gunna tell Kanaya?”

Rose thought that over for only a moment, then she nodded, “When I’m ready.”

When she’s ready, huh? Would Dave ever be ready to tell John? He wasn’t even sure he had a crush on John, at least not as intense as it used to be. It was slowly fading, but damn, did he still get flustered over one simple hand holding.

“Maybe I’ll tell John one day too,” Dave said in response, “When I’m ready.”

Rose smiled at him at that, “As long as you’re comfortable with it in the moment, go for it.”

Dave nodded in agreement, “Yeah, you too,” Rose was still smiling at him, sweetly too. She’s so nice to him, he felt like he didn’t deserve it, “Hey Rose?”

“Yeah?” She hummed.

“Thanks,” He said, not looking at her, too anxious, “I’m glad I could talk to you about this.”

“No problem. Big sisters got to look out for their little brothers,” Rose said teasingly; she always referred to herself as his big sister.

He rolled his eyes, “I’m older than you, or did you forget again?”

“By a day, and besides: age is but a number,” Rose said with that smug smirk of hers.

“Yeah, whatever,” He said and she giggled.

She looked at him, wanting to get something else off of her chest, “Hey Dave?”

“Yeah?” He looked up to catch her eyes, only to be taken off guard when she placed her hands on either side of his face. He blinked, trying to figure out what was going on, but she answered his internal question soon enough.

“I don't know what else is going on with you, but it's obvious something is bothering you. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here,” She was so serious, her silliness from before gone in an instant, and so was Dave’s.

He felt tears burn his eyes again, and for some reason he took comfort in her slight knowing. He saw her smile sweetly at him and she used her thumbs to wipe away the tears that spilled down his cheeks again. She pulled his head forward and planted a kiss on his forehead before she spoke again, “You’re a good person, Dave Strider.”

Why is she so nice to him?

“Come on,” She reached down and grabbed his hand, squeezing it comfortingly, “Let’s get you cleaned up and go enjoy the rest of our afternoon with our friends.”

Dave sniffled and wiped at his face, nodding in agreement, “Yeah.”

He took her hand and followed her lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments and have a great day! Thanks for reading! <3


	6. Two Way Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux has a talk with someone he's close to, as well as someone he's not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking a lil trip with a different character this time around and his name is Sollux Captor. I hope you enjoy, we'll be back to your regularly scheduled Dave Strider shortly.

Life was chaotic in this house. It was constant noise. There was never a peaceful moment. Was a house with two teenage boys ever quiet though? Sollux thought he was rather quiet, he stayed to himself more than anything, but his brother was a different story.

Which was an easy explanation just by the way he chooses to wake him up in the mornings.

“SOLLUUUUUX!” Came the loud and nasally cry of Mituna before a heavy weight landed on top of the younger teen.

It hurt, but he was used to it by now. He groaned as he opened his eyes, turning his head to try and peer at his brother, “What do you want, Tuna…”

“Dad said it’s time to get up!” Mituna said, smiling happily.

Sollux found his older brother to be way too hyperactive and loud, something he generally found annoying in other people. But his brother was different. They got along well, even if they did tease each other a lot.

“It’s too early… lemme sleep…” Sollux grumbled tiredly.

Mituna, acting dramatic, rolled over and onto his back. He was still lying on top of Sollux, but now he went slack and all his weight was just pushing down onto the other boy’s lungs, “You got school today.”

“Isn’t it Saturday…?” Sollux said, slowly falling back asleep even with Mituna’s weight making it hard to breathe.

“Pft, no. It’s Friday, loser,” He scoffed, and Sollux’s eyes snapped open.

_Shit._

“God dammit,” The boy said, trying to move and he somehow go rolled over and pushed on his brother, “Get off, you weirdo!”

“Say uncle and I’ll think about it,” He said, acting innocent.

“Say hello to my fist in your face and the floor you're about to end up on,” Sollux threatened, which didn’t seem to bother Mituna too bad.

“If you were that desperate you would’ve punched me already,” He replied, still smiling.

“Ugh,” Sollux groaned, letting his head hit the pillow, “I’ll tell Tula you were the one who broke her skateboard if--”

Mituna quickly got off of him, standing and crossing his arms to pout, “That’s not fair!”

Sollux smirked, “Crybaby.”

Mituna stuck his tongue out at him and Sollux gave him the bird as the older boy turned to leave the room. He laid in bed for a minute, rubbing a hand across his face before he turned to grab his phone. He read the screen, seeing he had two new text messages; he opened the one from Kanaya first.

GA: Good Morning, Sollux. I Was Just Texting To Remind You That We Are Going Shopping This Afternoon After School.   
**GA: See You At Lunch.**

****

Ugh, he almost forgot about that. He texted her back.

****

****

TA: alriight, ii’ll try to be there. 

****

****

Then he looked at his other message, seeing it was from his girlfriend… or, at least he thinks she’s his girlfriend. They did kiss once. Okay, twice. And they went on a date. But things have been weird, he couldn’t tell what was going on.

****

****

**AA: hey.**  
**AA: we need t0 talk.**

****

****

Well, that didn’t sound good. When did ‘we need to talk’ ever sound good though? Great.

****

****

TA: 2omethiing wrong? 

****

****

He waited for a minute, but she didn’t reply, so he sighed and put his phone down. Ugh, this day just seemed to be off to a great start. He kicked the blankets off his legs and got up, grabbing some clothes and heading for the shower.

****

He took one quickly, barely combing his hair when he got out and dressed before he went to the kitchen to grab something to eat. His Dad wasn’t home, which means he’d gone to work already. Mituna was at the bar though, munching on some toaster waffles; Sollux grabbed himself a couple as well before he sat next to his brother and checked his phone again.

****

Aradia had texted back.

****

****

AA: d0n’t w0rry. it’s just s0mething that needs to be discussed. **AA: meet me in the hall during lunch?**

********

********

This didn’t sound good at all.

********

********

TA: yeah, ii’ll be there. 

********

********

He sighed and set his phone down, running a hand through his hair. Mituna noticed he seemed stressed, and he turned to look at him and spoke through a mouthful of waffle.

********

“You okay, man?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow. Not that Sollux could see that with all of Mituna’s hair in his face.

********

“Yeah,” He sighed in response, “I think AA’s gunna break up with me.”

********

Mituna was quiet for a moment, seeming surprised by that, “Really? I thought you guys were doing alright?”

********

Sollux shrugged, “Yeah, me too… Guess she thought differently.”

********

Mituna frowned, seeing his little brother seemed upset by this. He reached out a hand and patted his back, “I’m sorry, Sollux.”

********

The boy shrugged Mituna’s hand off of his back, “I’m fine. I’ll just go to school, talk to her, and then go out with my friends. It’s no big deal.”

********

Mituna let his hand hover, still frowning as he watched Sollux chew on his lip. No big deal? His brother was good at saying that. He knew it was a big deal to him though, but for now all he could do was leave him alone and give him some space.

********

\---

********

As promised, he waited outside in the hall during lunch. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he waited for Aradia to show up. He hopes she’d be here soon so they could get this over with and he could go back inside and eat lunch with his friends.

********

He was almost positive she was going to break up with him. Nothing good ever followed after a text that said ‘we need to talk.’ He thought they had been doing well. They’d been on dates, even kissed a couple of times. Maybe she just wasn’t feeling it?

********

He sighed. This really sucks. Why is he so anxious?

********

Shoes tapping against the floor garnered his attention to the side, seeing his ex-girlfriend to be approaching him. She smiled that wide smile of hers when she saw him, though he saw a little bit of anxiety in her eyes.

********

“Hey Sollux,” She said in a chipper tone as she approached, stopping right in front of him.

********

“Hey AA,” He said, shifting somewhat uncomfortably, hands still stuffed into his pockets.

********

“You look nice today,” She said, seeing his clothes actually somewhat matched today.

********

“Thanks,” He said. She was being nice. 

********

“So… About what I wanted to talk to you about. I--” He cut her off before she could finish.

********

“You want to break up with me, right?” He asked, a little edge in his voice; he was upset.

********

She frowned, appearing upset, “Sollux… I’m so--”

********

He shrugged, huffing, “It’s fine. I get it.”

********

She blinked. She was actually a bit surprised by his reaction, as he was usually pretty calm about stuff like this, but on the other hand he could become agitated pretty easily. It was like his mood was constantly fluctuating, “Sollux, are you--”

********

“Can I just ask one thing?” He asked, looking to her, seeming curious, “Was it something I did?”

********

Oh.

********

Aradia shook her head, trying to reassure him, “Oh no! Don’t worry! You were perfect, Sollux! None of this has anything to do with you!”

********

“Then what’s wrong then?” He asked, seeming genuinely curious.

********

Aradia shrugged, seeming a little… nervous all of the sudden, “It’s… me. I’m going through some personal struggles right now that I need to work through. I promise you have nothing to do with this.”

********

Sollux was quiet for a moment, seeming to be thinking that over. Aradia waited patiently, and then he spoke, “What kind of personal issues?”

********

“Oh, um…” She trailed off, trying to find the words to say, but Sollux spoke again.

********

“You know I’m not gunna tell anybody else about what’s going on with you. I’m not like that,” Sollux said, averting his eyes, a slight flush glowing on his cheeks as he showed a little vulnerability.

********

Aradia wasn’t very secretive, she usually didn’t care what others thought about her. She was a confident person, but she seemed a little wary about this, “Well…” She looked around, then she stepped closer to Sollux, “Okay, I’ll tell you. I trust you.”

********

For some reason, that made his face burn a little darker, but he cleared his throat to mask it and distract from it as Aradia went on, “I’ve been… struggling with my feelings for… certain people.”

********

Sollux lifted an eyebrow, “Me?”

********

Aradia shrugged, “Yes, but also no.”

********

Okay, he was confused, “I’m not sure I’m following, AA.”

********

She groaned and rolled her eyes, “Ugh, you boys are always so oblivious. I’m having feelings for someone else, Sollux.”

********

“Oh,” Was all he said to that, and yeah, it hurt. She’s breaking up with him because she had feelings for someone else. Understandable, it was better than cheating on him, but still. It hurt, “I--”

********

“And no, it’s not like that,” She quickly reassured him, “It’s… more personal than that.”

********

God, this was frustrating, “God, why are girls so confusing. Would you just get to the point already?”

********

“And why are boys so rude? I’m trying to tell you something very difficult for me, but you’re just rushing me along,” She said, becoming sassy and crossing her arms.

********

Sollux rolled his eyes, “Oh my God, sorry. I’m just trying to figure out what’s wrong.”

********

Aradia frowned a bit, understanding his point of view. She sighed and nodded, “Okay, I guess I’ll just come out and say it: I’m having a sexuality crisis.”

********

Oh… For some reason, that never came into his mind.

********

“Oh,” He said, shoulders slumping as he processed that, “And you’re… having feelings for someone else?”

********

She nodded, “Yes, and it’s been difficult. I don’t know how to process any of this. This is all very new to me.”

********

Well… That was something he could understand. His whole body suddenly relaxed, his frustration and confusion melting away as if it were nothing; his hands found their way back into his pockets, “I can relate to that, at least.”

********

She blinked, surprised by that, “What do you mean?”

********

He just shrugged, “In middle school I went through something like this.”

********

She seemed intrigued, “Really?”

********

“Yeah,” He shifted a little. He was usually pretty comfortable talking about this, all of his close friends knew, but he never told Aradia, “I’m bi, AA.”

********

She seemed a bit surprised by that, but it didn’t take her long to smile about it; she seemed relieved, “I… That’s great, Sollux! I… I don’t know, that just makes me very happy!”

********

Sollux actually smirked a little, “Thanks?”

********

“No, I just mean…” She was still smiling as she tried to find her words, “I felt sort of… alone, with these feelings. I guess this kind of stuff isn’t as unheard of as I previously thought.”

********

Sollux shrugged, “I’ve got a hunch pretty much everyone we know is pretty gay.”

********

Aradia giggled, and it made Sollux smile genuinely, something he didn’t do often. Aradia smiled back and a comfortable silence fell between them for a brief moment before Aradia spoke again, “I do love you, you know?”

********

The smile didn’t fall from Sollux’s face, “Yeah, I know. I love you too.”

********

She stepped forward then, wrapping her arms around him tightly and resting the side of her head against his shoulder; he returned the embrace. It was brief, but felt good, and suddenly they understood each other so much better. When they pulled apart, they were still smiling and Aradia told him she’d see him around. 

********

That went a lot better than he thought. He never thought he’d be this light and happy after a break up, but here he was.

********

Maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad?

********

\---

********

Okay, scratch that. Shopping with these losers really threw his mood down the drain. He could only look at so many frilly dresses before he lost his mind, and Jade Harley was really testing his patience right now.

********

“What about… this one!” She said dramatically, practically kicking open the dressing room door and showing off a pretty blue dress to her friends.

********

“Ooh, that one’s pretty!” John said, smiling sweetly at her.

********

Jade rolled her eyes at that, “You’ve said that about all of them, John.”

********

“Well, sorry! I just think you look pretty in everything you wear!” John said, acting offended, but he smiled and so did Jade.

********

“Well, what do you guys think?” She asked, twirling around in the dress to show off the way it flowed.

********

“I think it’s pretty,” Rose said.

********

“I agree,” Kanaya said, “Though, I’m not sure that shade of blue is really your color.”

********

“Oh, really?” Jade asked, pouting.

********

“Yes. Actually, why you were inside trying that one on, I found this one,” Kanaya said, stepping forward and handing another dress to the tall girl, “I think this one would suit you well.”

********

Jade’s eyes lit up seeing the sparkly dress and she quickly took it from Kanaya’s hands, “Okay, I’ll try it on right now! Be right back!”

********

Then, she turned and went back into the dressing room to try it on. Both Rose and Kanaya giggled at her excitability, then Rose turned to Dave, “Aren’t you going to try anything on, Dave?”

********

The boy shrugged, taking a sip from his Cola, “I don’t know. Nothing is really catching my eye.”

********

John rolled his eyes and stood, “Oh, come on Dave! There’s so much in this store! Surely something has caught your attention!”

********

“Sorry Egbert, but I’m just not digging the Ghostbusters-esque tuxedos you’ve got a knack for.”

********

“It’s not a Ghostbusters tux, it’s just a green suit!” John said, crossing his arms as he pouted, “And Ghostbusters is a good movie, stop hating on it!”

********

Dave just shrugged, “It’s pretty lame, dude.”

********

“Ugh!” John groaned, grabbing Dave’s arm and pulling him to his feet, “Let’s go! I’ll help you find something that suits your ‘cool guy’ style.”

********

Dave almost spilled his Coke as John dragged him to his feet and across the store, but he saved himself and was able to keep balance and follow after his friend. Rose sighed and looked to Kanaya, “Speaking of finding something nice to wear for the dance, have you found anything yet, Kanaya?”

********

The taller girl smiled and nodded, “Yes. My mother took me out last weekend, remember? I got a dress then.”

********

“Oh? And why didn’t I hear about this? Or see it for that matter?” Rose asked, quirking an eyebrow.

********

“Because I wanted it to be a surprise when you see it,” Kanaya answered, smiling sort of teasingly, “It’s really going to stun you to silence, I think.”

********

Rose raised her eyebrows, “Oh, really now? I better find something to wear too then so I can stun you to silence as well.”

********

“Oh, don’t worry about that. You already do that often,” Kanaya said, that teasing smile directed only at Rose.

********

The other girl felt her face burn at her words, but she smiled anyway, “Right back at you.”

********

Kanaya giggled, and Sollux rolled his eyes, “Oh my God, get a room.”

********

Both girls looked to him, both of their faces now burning. Luckily for them, neither of them had to sit in awkwardness for long, because Jade was pushing the door back open and stepping into the room, “Tada! Feast your eyes on this beauty!”

********

Both the other girls smiled, bigger than they had been before; Rose spoke first, “This is definitely the one!”

********

“Really?” Jade gasped excitedly.

********

“Yes, she’s right,” Kanaya said, standing and smoothing her long skirt, “I did well picking this one out.”

********

Jade clapped excitedly then twirled her dress, “It is very pretty. I never thought I’d be getting a black dress, but here we are!”

********

“It works on you,” Rose said, “Makes you look… more mature. Like a high schooler.”

********

“So I didn’t look like a high schooler before?” Jade asked, though she said it in a joking way; they all giggled then, and then Jade turned her attention to the lanky boy who hadn’t said much since they’ve been here, “What do you think, Sollux?”

********

He looked at her, watching her mess with the skirt of the black, sequined dress, “It looks fine.”

********

“Wow, thanks for the riveting compliment,” Jade said, hands on her hips.

********

“Have you found anything to wear yet, Sollux?” Kanaya asked, seeming genuinely curious.

********

“Uh… no,” Sollux said, shifting sort of uncomfortably, “Nothing here is really my style. I’ll find something somewhere else.”

********

Kanaya frowned and Rose looked curious, and it was making him uncomfortable. He had his hands in his pockets as he avoided looking at either of them. He really just wanted to leave. So that’s what he did.

********

“I gotta go. Dad told me to be home early today,” Sollux lied.

********

The girls didn’t seem to buy it, but they let him go anyway. Kanaya spoke, “Okay, I’ll see you Monday?”

********

“Yeah, see ya,” Sollux said, turning around and waving.

********

He left the shop, stepping out onto the sidewalk and looking around. He could hear kids laughing as they played across the street at the park. He used to go there all the time when he was a kid with his brother, they used to have a lot of fun there. Now he just goes there when he’s bored or pissed about something.

********

He stepped across the street and over to the park, deciding a swing on the swing set wouldn’t feel too bad right now. It didn’t look occupied as of now. He walked through the grass, heading towards the swing set, only to stop when he saw somebody lying on the ground. He was about to question who they were and if they were okay, but he recognized them quickly.

********

He stepped over to him, noticing now that he had a camera in his hands and he was messing with the zoom. So, Sollux being himself, stepping right in front of the camera’s lens and looked down at the other boy.

********

The boy on the ground looked up, looking annoyed, and that annoyance only grew when he saw who was standing over him, “W-what the hell do you w-want?”

********

“Wow, rude. A ‘nice to see you’ would’ve been nice,” Sollux said, though he really didn’t care all that much.

********

“Again. W-what the hell do you want?” He asked, glaring up at the other where he still laid on the ground.

********

“Why do you assume I want something?” Sollux snapped suddenly, “Why are you laying on the ground anyway?”

********

The brunette huffed and pouted, “W-well, I was trying to get a picture of a ladybug, but you got in my way. So thanks for that, asswipe.”

********

“Oh, excuse me,” Sollux mocked, “Didn’t mean to ruin your pretty picture.”

********

The other boy just glared, finally crawling back to get off the ground. He got to his feet, letting his camera dangle from around his neck, still holding the most likely expensive object in his slim hands. 

********

His name was Eridan Ampora, he was a snobby kid from the rich side of town. At full height he was still short, but very skinny. It didn’t look like he ate much, but Sollux didn’t really know. They didn’t like each other that much, so he didn’t really care what Eridan did in his free time.

********

“That looks expensive. Your Dad buy it for you?” Sollux asked, poking the lens of the camera.

********

Eridan smacked his hand away quickly, “Hey, don’t smudge it! And w-why do you even care anyw-way?”

********

Sollux shrugged, “I don’t know, just wondering if expensive Conan cameras are things spoiled kids get for random presents.”

********

Eridan pouted, not ever really liking it when Sollux called him spoiled, “My old one broke so he got me a new one.”

********

“Damn. If I had an expensive ass piece of shit like that I’d sure take better care of it,” Sollux said, eyebrows furrowing a little in what appeared to be annoyance.

********

“I w-wasn’t the one w-who broke it, you insufferable prick,” Eridan snapped, cradling the camera in his hands like it was something precious, “My brother did.”

********

“Well, why’d he go and do something like that?” Sollux asked, just trying to antagonize him now.

********

“I don’t know, he’s an idiot!” Eridan said, shrinking in on himself a little.

********

Sollux stuffed his hands into his pockets as he usually did, “Your brother’s an asshole.”

********

That was one thing they could agree on.

********

“Tell me about it,” Eridan said.

********

He was avoiding looking at Sollux now, seeming a bit uncomfortable. He looked pissed, he probably wanted to be left alone. But Sollux enjoyed pestering him, so he stayed a while longer.

********

“You going to the Winter Dance?” Sollux asked as a general question, but Eridan sort of blushed at the insinuation.

********

“W-why do you care?” He asked, his stutter actually playing with his nervousness this time.

********

Though, he always seemed nervous about something.

********

Sollux shrugged, “I don’t know, I was just wondering. Everyone else is going, I don’t see why you’d stay behind… Though, you probably don’t have anyone to go with anyway.”

********

Eridan caught Sollux’s eyes again, glaring, “I-I might ask Feferi!”

********

Sollux smirked incredulously, “Oh come on, man. I highly doubt she’d go with you. She’s way out of your league.”

********

“Shut up!” Eridan yelled, face as red as a beet, “You don’t know she’ll say no! She might say yes!”

********

Sollux scoffed, “As if. I doubt you even have any friends to go with you.”

********

Okay, that one looks like it actually hurt. Eridan winced and averted eye contact, fingers fidgeting around his camera. There was silence for a moment as the shorter boy looked at his twitching hands, then he stammered, “I-I gotta go.”

********

Sollux slumped his shoulders, noticing his voice had become weaker, but he didn’t mention it, “Alright, see you around, loser.”

********

Then he turned to walk away, and Eridan did the same just going the opposite direction. Sollux ignored the slight guilty feeling in his gut, realizing this was just Eridan and he’d get over it. He always did. Instead of dwelling on what just happened, he stepped over to the swings and took a seat on one, pushing his feet against the ground before he let himself fly.

********

And that’s what he did until dark.

********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it!! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!! <3


	7. Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dadbert has a talk with Dave. Dave has a talk with Rose. Things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3

“There! You’re going to look great in that when the dance comes up!” John said standing proudly in his bedroom, hands on his hips as he stared at the red suit Dave had got at the shop.

“Yeah, thanks,” Dave said, scratching the back of his head nervously, “You didn’t have to get that for me, you know?”

John smiled proudly and waved a hand around to dismiss that, “Pff, come on, Dave. I wanted to.”

“But… It was kind of expensive. You didn’t--”

“I wanted to,” John repeated, “You liked it so I got it. So stop telling me I didn’t have to. I like getting gifts for my friends.”

Dave wanted to protest. John and his Dad had just been so nice since he’d been here, he wasn’t used to this kind of treatment. It was hard to adapt to. But it was a nice change, he just couldn’t help feeling guilty. 

He didn’t deserve any of this.

“Anyway! We should get downstairs! Dad’s making Bakso!” John said, patting his stomach excitedly.

Dave gave him a confused look, “And what’s Bakso?”

“Meatballs but Indonesian,” John explained with a roll of his eyes, “It’s like, the only Indonesian dish my Dad knows how to make.”

John’s Mom was from Indonesia, but she died when he was just a baby, so his Dad’s been raising him all by himself all these years. His Dad was cool, a really good parent. Dave smiled thinking about how nice he’s been to him since he’s been here.

John turned to leave the room, seeming excited for dinner tonight, but before he could get away Dave grabbed the sleeve of his shirt to stop him. John’s footsteps halted and he turned to look at his friend curiously, “Dave…?”

He looked nervous, which worried John. Did something happen? “Um…”

John was able to shrug out of Dave’s grip and turn around to face him properly, giving him a concerned look, “Is everything okay?” When Dave didn’t answer, John began to come to conclusions, “Did you not have fun today? Is this about the suit? I told you--”

“I had fun today and it’s not about the suit. It’s about…” Dave trailed off, fingers fidgeting anxiously as he thought ahead, “It’s Friday and my cover only lasted for the week. I’m supposed to go home Sunday. What are we gunna do?”

Oh. John watched Dave sadly as the taller boy began to panic, “I-I can’t go back there, man. He’ll be pissed about me being gone all week and the…” He lowered his voice now, as if afraid one of their friends was outside the door listening in even though they’d all gone home at this point, “...bruises just started to heal. He’s just gunna put them back and then I’ll hurt again and then I probably won’t even get to eat, and I’ve been eating really good here, John. Like damn, your Dad can cook. I’ve never had home cooking like that before. And even better, you guys have some intense food. Bakso? International as fuck, John. I don’t know what I’d do if Bro came home and made something like that. I’d probably shit bricks. Like holy--”

“Dave, you’re rambling!” John snapped him out of it, reaching out and putting his hands on his shoulders, “And panicking a little.”

“O-oh, sorry…” Dave said, breath having increased a little. His face would have burned with embarrassment if he could catch his breath. 

John was the only one he’d let see him vulnerable. Well, Rose too. But she’s like his sister, so that’s different.

“It’s okay,” John said, holding onto Dave as if it would keep his feet on the floor and keep him from floating away, “Just breathe.”

“O-okay,” Dave said, nodding and taking some deep breaths. 

The panic wasn’t as bad as it’s been in the past, he could handle it and calm himself pretty quickly, which he seemed to managing fine. He just hated to be like this in front of John, but what he had been thinking about had been really bothering him all day. He just had to get it off of his chest.

“Are you okay?” John asked with worry.

Dave nodded shakily and stammered, “Y-yeah. I’m fine.”

“Okay, good,” John said, then he smiled kindly, “Come on, let’s go ask my Dad. He’ll know what’s going on.”

Dave nodded, and they were about to go downstairs to see what was going on, but they didn’t even make it a step before a deeper voice spoke, “No need to go all the way downstairs. I’m right here.”

They both looked to the door, seeing Mr. Egbert has pushed the door open and had stepped into the room. He looked down at both the boys with a kind smile, finally settling his paternal gaze on Dave, “You okay, son?”

Dave was still a bit on edge, but he nodded, “Yes sir.”

Mr. Egbert smiled, “You don’t have to call me that, Dave. I’ve told you.”

“Oh, sorry…” Dave apologized quietly, turning his gaze down. Ugh, he hated all this attention in this vulnerable state.

“It’s alright,” The adult stepped forward, placing a hand on Dave’s shoulder, “Come sit with me.”

He guided Dave over to John’s bed, taking a seat with him. John stood nearby, listening to their conversation in silence. Mr. Egbert let go of Dave, knowing the boy probably wasn’t the most comfortable with touch, so instead he placed his hands on the mattress on either side of him. Dave sat there, staring at the man in curious anxiety, but he didn’t have to wait for him to speak for long.

“About where you’ll go…” He took a breath, and so did Dave, except the boy held it nervously, “There are several ways we could go. You could continue to stay here, but not for long because obviously you need a legal guardian. Foster care is always an option as well--”

Dave panicked a bit; he really didn’t want to do that, “Can we not go that route? I don’t want to be in a house with a bunch of random people I don’t know.”

Mr. Egbert offered him a soft smile, “It’s okay, Dave. That’s not the route I was thinking anyway.”

Oh… Well, that’s a relief. Dave really was dreading that option for a moment there.

“The third option is the one I’ve been thinking over the most,” He said, and Dave leaned in slightly, listening intently, “I think adoption would be the best route to go.”

Dave blinked, for some reason not expecting that answer, “Adoption? From… who? You?”

“There are options,” Mr. Egbert explained, “I’ve been talking to Roxy about it though.”

Roxy?

“Rose’s Mom?” Dave asked, then he felt his heart race a little faster again. He’d had to have told her about what’s going on with him. Does that mean Rose knows? _Shit._

“Don’t worry, Dave. Rose doesn’t know anything,” Mr. Egbert calmed him, as if he could read his mind, “I told Roxy, but she’s good at keeping secrets, so don’t worry.”

Dave was a bit confused and still worried, “But… No offense, Mr. Egbert, but isn’t she like… you know…?”

He made a motion of drinking with his hand, and Mr. Egbert smirked and chuckled, “She used to be. I was able to talk her into meetings and she’s been sober for two years.”

“Oh,” Dave was surprised by that. Why didn’t Rose ever tell him about that?

“She knows you and Rose get along well, even refer to each other as brother and sister,” Mr. Egbert went on to explain, “She seems interested in talking to you.”

“Really?” Dave asked, and he wasn’t so sure why there was that much excitement in his voice over it.

“Yes, really,” Mr. Egbert chuckled, “She just wants to make sure you’re okay with all of this, of course. Nothing is official unless you want it to be.”

Dave really didn’t know how to react to any of this. It was all so sudden. He remembers Rose’s Mom, he’s seen her a few times. She had always seemed nice, a caring person. Protective even. Like John’s Dad but more… open? If that makes any sense.

“Well… That sounds pretty cool, Dave!” John said, taking a step forward with a smile on his face, “Rose’s Mom is pretty cool! I’ve been over a few times recently and she’s always really nice! Even if Rose thinks she’s annoying!”

He laughed a bit after that, and Dave thought it over. John referred to his Dad as annoying too, but in Dave’s eyes Mr. Egbert was one of the coolest people he’d ever met. He noticed a lot of his friends referred to their parents as annoying or bossy, he wonders if Rose referring to her mother as such is a good thing?

Over-protective guardian? He could really use one of those.

“Did she say when she’d like to talk?” Dave asked, smiling a little.

The other two smiled back.

\---

Monday rolled around and Dave was finally starting to feel a little lighter. He was supposed to go home last night, but over the weekend Child Protective Services had been contacted. It made Dave nervous, now his brother knew he told someone else, but Mr. Egbert had told him he’d never be near his brother again.

He’d been arrested for child endangerment, neglect, and abuse and he’d be charged for all three most likely. At first, it had looked like Dave would be placed with a foster family until he was able to find someone to adopt him, but somehow Mr. Egbert found a loophole and Dave would be staying with him until he found a family to adopt him.

Ms. Lalonde looked to be the likely candidate as of now and he’d be meeting with her this week.

While today was a better day, he was still very nervous. He had to talk to Rose about everything, and he didn’t like talking about it, but… If her Mom was thinking about taking him in, Rose needed to know and he’d rather she hear it from him than her mother.

So, he texted her and told her to meet him outside during lunch, and then he waited. It really didn’t take her long to show up, but with Dave’s anxiety it felt like he didn’t see her for forever. His anxiety only intensified when he heard the door open though, and Rose stepped out onto the pavement and over to her long time friend.

“Hello Dave. It’s a nice day out,” She said politely as she stopped next to him, trying to look at his face.

He looked to her briefly, but he anxiously looked elsewhere quickly, “Uh, yeah. Pretty warm for late November, huh?”

“Indeed,” Rose said, and he could feel her looking at him, “I figured you didn’t pack or buy yourself lunch, so here.”

“Huh?” He turned to her now when she nudged his arm, seeing a brown paper bag in her hand.

“It’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You need to eat,” Rose told him, seeming a bit concerned.

He wasn’t a healthy weight, but he was slowly getting there. He smiled as he took the bag, “Thanks.”

“No problems,” She said, then she stepped down two steps and sat down on the concrete, opening her bag for her lunch, “Now, what did you need to talk to me about?”

“Oh, um…” He didn’t really know how to start a conversation of this nature. How did you talk about something like this? All he’s done before with John and Mr. Egbert is sob all over himself and panic.

“Are you having another gay crisis? I can try to help with that, but it’s been a while since I’ve had one of those,” Rose said, chewing on her sandwich.

“Oh, uh. No, I’m not having a gay crisis,” Dave said, then he gave her an incredulous look, “And I don’t buy that. You have a gay crisis every time you look at Kanaya.”

Rose rolled her eyes, but he could see her turn pink in the face, “Okay, if it’s not a sexuality problem, then what has you so anxious?”

Dave went silent, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as he tried to find the words to say. He couldn’t really find them, but he was at least able to get his legs to move forward so he could sit down next to Rose. She watched him curiously, waiting for him to start speaking, but he never said anything.

“Dave, I don’t want to rush you, but we only have so much time for lunch,” Rose reminded him.

“Oh, uh. Right. Right…” He trailed off, voice lowering. 

He was concerning Rose. She softened her features and set her sandwich down on her bag so it didn’t get dirty, leaning towards Dave, “Dave? What’s wrong?”

“I, uh… I don’t really know how to… Shit, uh…” He was wringing his hands now, feet tapping anxiously. How does he even put this, “Well uh…” Ugh, come on Dave. Just get it over with. He took a deep breath and finally turned to Rose, “Okay, just. Let me talk and then you can, okay? I need to get this off my chest as fast as possible or I’m going to have a breakdown.”

She was quiet, watching him with a worried look. She had no idea what he was about to say, but she knew whatever it was it wasn’t good.

Dave began to ramble.

“Okay, so remember last week when I told you I stayed over at John’s? So, I sort of stayed there the whole week,” He began and Rose listened without interruption the entire time, “I went over there because one knight last weekend something happened and I had to leave my place and…” 

This next part was hard, but he tried not to stop too long because he knows if he did he wouldn’t be able to continue. So he spit it out.

“Bro came home really drunk and he beat the hell out of me, Rose. He punched me and kicked me and I had bruises forever, I still do. I pretty much always do. It hurt to walk and after he was done and passed out on the couch, I locked myself in my closet in texted John in my exhaustion and he let me come over,” He paused briefly to take a breath, then he continued, “I’ve been there since and John’s Dad is super dope, Rose. This man can cook and bake and he has been feeding me three meals a fucking day. Who does that?”

Pause. Breathe. Continue.

“Well, I guess normal parents do that, huh? But that’s not the point, I’m getting off topic here,” He waved a hand around and shook his head, “Anyway, over the weekend John’s Dad called CPS and my bro has been arrested and he’s getting charged I guess, which is a big relief for me, right? I don’t know why though, but I still feel scared. He knows I told Mr. Egbert and John and now I’m telling you! If he knew about that he’d be pissed and he’d kick my ass! Hell, he might even wanna kill me this time!”

He was really starting to panic now, his voice higher than normal, his hands flapping around as he explained, and his eyebrows furrowed anxiously. But he didn’t stop, “But now, I’ve got no guardian! John’s Dad is taking care of me for now, but only until someone wants to adopt me and-and--” He stopped to take a breath and swallow, feeling sick to his stomach, but he had to tell her this last part, “Your Mom told John’s Dad that she is interested and wants to talk to me, so would you be okay with me being your brother?”

It was silent. Dave looked at Rose, she looked at him. He had panic in his eyes, and even hiding behind his shades she could see the panic written in his red orbs. She though, she looked sad and angry and a lot of other things. 

She could also see Dave was in a lot of pain and on the verge of tears. So, she acted.

It was sudden and he wasn’t really expecting it. Neither him nor Rose were openly affectionate people, but what he received just now was something he desperately craved in this moment. She practically leaped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him close, bringing his head to her shoulder.

He began to cry almost immediately after she hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around her, clinging to her tightly. He cried against her shoulder, his tears soaking her shirt, but she didn’t care.

She felt herself begin to cry too.

“I’m so sorry…” She whimpered, “I always thought there was something going on, but I never thought it was this bad. I’m so sorry, Dave.”

He shook his head against her shoulder, “It’s okay…”

It was silent again, and she was threading her fingers through his hair, and it was so soothing. His fingers clung tighter to her shirt, holding her tighter. He was so scared all the time but here he felt safe and it was nice. He never had a lot of these as a kid, if really any at all, so this was a nice change of pace lately.

“About my last question…” He trailed off to sniffle.

Rose smiled and held him tighter, “You’re already my little brother, Dave. Of course I’d love to make it official.”

He… actually smiled at that, and then he… laughed? Yeah, he laughed, and it didn’t sound emotionless or maniacal like most post-breakdown laughs sounded. No, he sounded happy. And it made Rose happy, and she laughed too.

It felt good to get it off his chest, and he knew he’d have to do it a few more times at least because soon enough everyone was going to have to know about all of this, but for now he enjoyed this moment.

A weight had been lifted off his shoulders for a little while.

\---

Walking into his favorite class only lifted his mood even more, he even walked into class with a smile on his face, which he didn’t do often. Nobody noticed of course, high schoolers weren’t very attentive, but he noticed and that’s all that mattered.

Or, at least he thought he’s the only one who noticed.

He sat down next to his partner, setting his bag down and pulling out his book, only to hear a raspy voice speak up and snap, “What the hell are you so chipper about?”

He turned his head to look at the other boy, eyes meeting tired auburn ones and a mess of dark hair. He was wearing a black hoodie, and it really sagged around his torso. He was small and had clothes that were too big for him, it was kind of cute.

“Can a dude not be excited to learn about biology?” He asked.

The boy gave him a weird look, like he was disgusted, “You’re worse than my previous partner.”

Dave just smirked and opened his book, side eyeing the other boy. 

Today was going to keep going well, it appeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!! <3


	8. Another Step In The Right Direction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave is finally able to initiate conversation with Karkat. Is this the start of a beautiful friendship?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gays, ladies, gentlemen, and pals not of the binary.

God, he’s such an angry little shit, but Dave couldn’t really say he wasn’t intrigued by it. Karkat was constantly either grumbling or yelling, having little to no patience with anything. Why he was so angry, Dave didn’t know. They literally were just sitting here reading through one of the chapters of their textbooks as their teacher rambled. It was just a regular school day, but this dude is not having a good time.

Dave was living for it.

Soon though, the bell rang, signaling the end of class and everyone was quick to gather up their things and leave. Dave shoved his book into his bag, looking up to see Karkat shuffle out of the room. He zipped up his bag, threw it over his shoulder, and rushed to catch up with him.

“Yo, Karkat!” He called, sliding out the door and rushing over to walk next to the shorter boy.

He looked up at Dave, rolling his eyes before looking back in front of him, “What do you want?”

“Just checking on you, man,” Dave said, shrugging, “You seemed a little on edge back there. Something up?”

“What do you care?” Karkat snapped, both hands gripping the handles of his backpack tightly.

Dave just shrugged again, “I don’t know.”

“Ugh, I knew being partnered with you was going to be a pain in my ass,” Karkat snapped, still not looking at Dave.

“What are you talking about, man? I’m Dave Strider, I’m the coolest motherfucker around. You’re lucky to be able to hang out with someone as cool as me,” Dave said, not even smiling a little bit as he spoke; always deadpan.

“Oh my God, you become more insufferable by the second,” Karkat complained.

“Thanks,” Dave said, “So what kind of shit do you like to do?”

“Huh?” Karkat finally looked at him, seeming confused by the question.

“You know, what do you do when you’re not at school?” Dave asked again, “I like to mix tracks and play video games with my best bro John, and sometimes me and the rest of my friends go out on the weekends and go skating or bowling. So what do you like to do?”

Karkat just looked at him with narrowed eyes, “None of your business, Strider.”

Dave felt the corner of his mouth twitch at the sound of his name in Karkat’s rasping and grouchy voice, “Oh, come on, Karkles. Tell me all about your hobbies. I’m sure they’re not lame.”

“I’m not telling you about my hobbies, fuckwad!” Karkat snapped, “And don’t call me that!”

“Call you what?” Dave teased, “Karkles?”

“Agh, shut up!” Karkat lifted his hands to cover his ears.

_Damn, he’s sensitive._

“Alright, damn. Chill man,” Dave said, holding up his hands to try and deescalate the situation, “We don’t gotta talk about your hobbies, that’s fine.”

Karkat dropped his hands from his ears, seeming somehow more closed off than before. Dave tried thinking of something else to ask him, but before he could both boys were suddenly stopping to avoid running into someone else. A tall someone else.

“What’s up, brother?” A deeper and raspy voice spoke, and both Dave and Karkat looked up to meet the deathly calm face of a tall and lanky boy.

“Jesus Christ, Gamzee! Stop just popping up like that! I told you it’s creepy!” Karkat snapped, looking like a startled cat.

“Hehe, sorry,” Gamzee smiled, his lips lifting a little higher when he saw Dave, lifting a hand to wave at him, “Who’s your friend?”

“He’s not my friend,” Karkat grumbled, but he introduced him anyway, “That’s Dave, he’s my awful lab partner.”

“Nice to meet you,” Gamzee said, holding out a hand for Dave to shake; he seemed nice enough, “You look to be one cool motherfucker, motherfucker.”

Dave smiled at that, shaking Gamzee’s hand, “Thanks, glad to know someone gets it.”

“Ugh, don’t feed his already incredible ego,” Karkat snapped, “What do you want?”

“Hm? Oh,” Gamzee released Dave’s hand, “Wanted to know if you’d help me study for that Spanish test next week. I’m really struggling with it.”

“God… Again? Fuck, you should be fluent as many times as I’ve tutored you,” Karkat snapped, seeming a bit annoyed but not as much as he was before.

“Oh hell yeah, you speak Spanish?” Dave asked, even more intrigued now.

“Of course I speak Spanish, my family is from Cuba, you idiot,” Karkat said irritably, as if that were common knowledge. 

“Oh, nice. My family is from Houston,” Dave said, which came off as sarcastic to most but he was telling the truth.

“Lovely,” Karkat mostly ignored him, going back to talking with Gamzee, “Fine, I’ll help you. But this is the last time! And I mean it!”

“Sure thing,” Gamzee said, “Thanks, you’re a real one.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Karkat said before he trailed off into grumbling to himself.

Dave looked between them; they seemed to be pretty good friends. They both seemed nice enough. Despite Gamzee being a little weird and Karkat being an incredible asshat, Dave quite liked them. Suddenly feeling a spike of confidence wash over him, he spoke up in the brief silence.

“Hey, me and my friends are going skating Friday after school, you two wanna come?” Dave asked, and Karkat snapped his head up and around to look at him.

“What?” His tone was sharp, as if unbelieving.

“Hell yeah, I’m in,” Gamzee said with a lazy grin, “Can I bring a friend?”

Dave shrugged, “Sure, why not? The more the merrier.”

“Even bigger hell yeah,” Gamzee said.

“Are you fucking kidding m--” Karkat sighed dramatically, “Gamzee, you just met this guy!”

Gamzee shrugged almost unnoticeably, “He just asked if I wanted to go rollerskating, my guy.”

“Yeah, but--”

“Kanaya will be there,” Dave said, cutting Karkat off, “You know her, right?”

“Kanaya…” Karkat trailed off, realization setting in; he slumped his shoulders, “You’re the stuck up fake cool guy she told me about.”

“Stuck up fake who now?” Dave was offended.

“Jesus fuck, I can’t believe I just realized this,” Karkat face palmed before dragging his hand down his face and glaring up at Dave irritably, “I can’t believe she’s friends with you.”

“Ouch,” Dave said deadpan.

Karkat was silent for a moment, avoiding looking at Dave now as he crossed his arms, “Who else do you know? Anymore of my friends?”

Dave shrugged, “I don’t know. Usually it’s just me, Rose, Jade, John, Kanaya, Terezi--”

“You know Terezi, too?!” Karkat seemed surprised.

“Yeah,” Dave said, and Karkat seemed a little more shocked by him knowing her, “Is that a problem or something?”

“No, it’s just--”

“They used to be a thing,” Gamzee cut him off, and Karkat spun around to glare at the much taller boy.

“Gamzee! What the fuck?!” Wow, Dave almost couldn’t believe that.

“You and Terezi? Isn’t she gay?” Dave asked, confused.

“Yes, you moron! But she didn’t know that yet when we were dating, obviously!” Karkat yelled, then his face flushed and he lowered his voice when he saw people were staring.

“Well, are you two cool?” Dave asked, “Like. You guys don’t hate each other do you?”

Karkat shook his head, “No, we’re friends. It’s fine.”

“Alright then, are you coming skating with us or not?” Dave asked, getting tired of this dragging out.

“I…” Karkat didn’t really know, “I don’t know.”

Dave stuffed his hands in pockets, “Well, you know where the rink is. I gotta get going, I got a Lit class. See you Friday, Gamzee,” He turned to go, but called back to Karkat before he stepped away, “Hope to see you there too, Karkles.”

“Don’t call me that!” He yelled.

Dave chuckled, smirking his way, “Yeah, whatever. See ya.”

Then he walked away to go to his next class, leaving Karkat standing there with Gamzee to pout. 

\---

Dave kicked at a stray rock he found on the pavement, hands in his pockets as he waited for one of his friends to join him. The day hadn’t been so bad despite the breakdown from lunch, but he got to talk to Karkat after that, so that was cool. It wasn’t like the breakdown ended horribly anyway, Rose was pretty dope about it. But she always was, so he wasn’t sure what he was expecting.

“Hey,” Speaking of the devil.

Dave turned to see Rose walk down the sidewalk, approaching him where he was leaning against a chain link fence, “Sup.”

“Nothing much,” Rose said, then she held out a piece of paper that looked to have an abundance of glitter glued to it.

“What’s this?” Dave asked, hesitant to reach out in fear of being covered in glitter for weeks to come.

“You are cordially invited to Jade Harley’s sleepover bash this Saturday,” Rose said with a small smile.

Dave took the paper in his fingers, looking down at it and yeah, this is definitely something Jade would make. He smirked, “A sleepover, huh? Don’t think I’ve ever been to one of those. At least, not of my own will.”

Rose explained, “It’s just going to be the four of us. You, me, Jade, and John.”

“Oh, well that’s dope,” Dave said, “Just like old times.”

Rose nodded in agreement, “Yes, I think it could be fun.”

After a beat of silence, Dave told Rose, “I invited Karkat to come skating with us Friday, by the way.”

“Oh?” Rose quirked a curious eyebrow, getting a teasing look on her face, “You quite like this boy, don’t you, Dave?”

Dave shrugged, “Yeah, he’s pretty c--” He noticed the look on Rose’s face and the way she had said that, and his face was quick to burn red and he jumped to defend himself, “I-I just think he’s cool, Rose! Can’t two guys just like each other in a bro way! God damn!”

Rose snickered, “I didn’t even allude to anything, Dave. You’re the one jumping to conclusions.”

“Uh…” His face was redder than a tomato; he felt so embarrassed, “L-let’s just talk about something else.”

“Hehe, okay,” Rose said, smiling as she told Dave, “I spoke to my mother earlier.”

Okay, good. This conversation turned his attention completely away from the grumpy, fluffy haired boy from science lab, “O-oh yeah?”

Rose nodded, “Yes. I told her you informed me of everything that was going on, and she told me she knew everything already, of course. But now that I know, she would like to speak with you. As soon as possible.”

 _As soon as…_ “Really? How soon?”

Rose shrugged, “Whenever you’re available, I guess. She seems rather excited to talk to you.”

That warmed Dave’s heart a bit and he felt himself smile a little, “Really?”

Rose, seeing the little bit of joy radiate from Dave, smiled a little bigger, “Yes, really. If you want a confirmation, I can take you home to see her, if you’d like.”

Dave blinked, “Now?”

Rose nodded, “If you want to, that is.”

“U-uh, sure! That’d be--” Dave realized how overconfident he seemed, and he paused to clear his throat, “I mean, yeah. Sure.”

Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “Well come on then, let’s go before it starts getting dark.”

She started down the sidewalk and Dave pushed off the fence and followed after her, preparing himself to talk to her Mom, or maybe… his future Mom? Man, that sounds weird. He’s never had a mom before, it was kind of exciting. He tried not to get overconfident, just hoping everything went well. Either way.

This was another step in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry if it's moving a little slow, I promise things get more gripping soon. Anyway, leave a comment and let me know what you think! <3


	9. Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave has a big talk with Rose's Mom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the lack of updates, some shit happened. I'm at the beach rn and uh, there was a hurricane. So we lost power. And then. A god damn fire. There was legit a fire next door and we had to evacuate and sit in our car for an hour or so during 85 mph winds as the fire department tried to put out the fire. I was up till 4 am that night and we got power back finally, but we had to move, so they placed us in a different house until we can go home and the internet kinda blows here. Luckily tho, I was able to finish this chapter and post it, so. Yeah. Plz enjoy and thanks for being patient with me.

Rose’s house was… impressive. He’s been here before, but for some reason he never really paid attention. Maybe he just didn’t care before? Either way. _Damn, this place is huge. What the hell does her Mom do for a living to live it up in a place like this?_

“She’s on her way home from work now,” Rose said as she closed the door, “Would you like something to drink while we wait?”

“Um…” Dave snapped himself out of his impressed trance, then he shrugged, “You got any AJ?”

“I’m assuming that means apple juice. If so, no,” Rose said, leading Dave to the kitchen, “Ginger ale?”

Dave made a face, “What do I look like, a sick grandmother? I’m hurt, Rose.”

She rolled her eyes, “My Mom used to keep it around when her stomach hurt after she drank too much, but now she just keeps it around because she actually likes it.”

“And do you like it?” Dave asked.

Rose shrugged, “It’s okay.”

Dave smirked, “Damn, you two sure are proper. You think I can actually fit in around here?”

They stepped into the kitchen and Rose went to the fridge to get them drinks as she answered his question, a small smile on her face, as if to reassure him, “We could use a little disorder around here.”

That actually warmed Dave’s heart a bit; his smile softened, “Well prepare yourselves, cuz I’m one disorganized motherfucker.”

Rose giggled, “As if I don’t know that already.”

She tossed him a bottled water, and he caught it before opening it and taking a swig, pulling it away with a satisfied ‘ah!’ “Damn Rose, this is some crisp ass water. Where did you get this shit? Ganges?”

“Whole Foods,” Rose answered.

“Damn,” Dave said, looking at the label, as if judging it, “You just can’t find shit this quality at Wally World.”

“I’m presuming that’s Walmart?” Rose questioned.

“You know it,” Dave replied, taking another swig of his water.

“You and your convoluted nicknames,” Rose said as Dave twisted the cap back onto his bottle, “So… Do you know what you’re going to say?”

Dave lifted an eyebrow, “About what?”

“I mean to my mother,” Rose said, “Do you know what you’re going to talk about?”

“Uh…” Dave suddenly felt anxious, “Well, uh. I don’t know, I’ve never had to talk about this kind of stuff to anyone. Is there something I should say?”

“Hm,” Rose put a hand to her chin in thought, “Well, I assume you two are going to talk about you. The things you do and like, your personality, your friends… your past.”

Yeah, he presumed as much, “Great, I just love talking about my Bro. You know it’s just my favorite hobby.”

Rose frowned, “I know, but you knew you were going to have to talk about him.”

Dave frowned too. He knew that, but it didn’t mean he was excited about it. He twisted and untwisted the cap on the bottle, trying to focus his nervous energy somewhere, “I know…”

Rose lifted a hand and set it on top of Dave’s fidgeting ones; she gave him a reassuring smile, “It’ll be okay. She knows about some of it already, and she won’t pressure you to talk about anything you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, I know…” Dave said, still twisting the cap under Rose’s hand, “I’m just nervous to talk to her, you know? I’ve only seen your mom a few times, but never really talked to her. What if she doesn’t like me?”

Rose softened her features, still smiling, “She already likes you and she barely even knows you.”

“That’s the problem, Rose!” Dave exclaimed, throwing his hands up in a panic as he began to ramble, “Sure, she likes me now! But what about when she gets to know me? What happens when she finds out that I can’t speak about how I feel without breaking down into a crybaby mess or when she finds out I have a hard time focusing on the topic at hand and tend to ramble on about other unrelated things and can’t sit fucking still for more than five minutes! Or when she finds out that I like boys as much as girls, what then?! Don’t even get me started on when I tell her everything about living with Bro and the things I let him do to me! I mean come on, I could’ve fought back at some point, right?! I--”

“Dave, shut up,” Rose cut him off, setting him with a scolding glare.

He froze, flinching at her tone. He clenched his fists at his sides and directed his gaze to his feet, muttering a quiet, “I’m sorry…”

Rose quickly softened her gaze, stepping towards him again, “Dave, you don’t need to apologize for anything. It’s--”

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” A new voice spoke, and both teens turned to see Rose’s Mom standing in the entryway of the kitchen, her purse hanging from her shoulder.

Dave felt his face burn and panic swell within him, and he was quick to close up on himself and avoid looking at the woman. Did she hear all of that?

“Oh, hello Mom,” Rose said politely, as she always spoke.

Roxy smiled sweetly, “Hello Rose. How was school today?”

“Fine,” Rose replied, shrugging as she crossed her arms, “I’m going to be spending the night at Jade’s Saturday, if that’s okay? Dave’s going too.”

Roxy smiled a little bigger, “Well, that sounds fun! I hope you two kids have a good time!”

Rose smiled, then both her and her mother turned to Dave, who was still quiet. Dave wasn’t usually quiet unless he was on the verge of panic, and one look at him told Rose he was. Rose lifted her hand and opened her mouth to speak, but her mother cut her off before she could say anything.

“Rose, do you mind if me and Dave start our talk now? I’d like to speak with him alone,” Roxy said, then she looked to Dave, “Only if that’s okay with you, Dave.”

He still wasn’t looking at her, but he nodded and shrugged, “Yeah, sure.”

“Okay then,” Roxy looked to her daughter again, and Rose nodded.

She put a gentle hand on Dave’s arm, trying to get a look at his face as she offered a reassuring smile, “It’s going to be okay. I believe in you.”

Dave swallowed nervously, but he nodded and spoke with lack of breath, “Thanks…”

Rose let her hand fall from his arm, then she left the room, leaving Dave and her mother to themselves. Roxy set her purse down on the counter and stepped over to the table, taking a seat. She crossed her leg over the other, smiling kindly at Dave, “You can sit down, Dave.”

His hands and fingers were twitching, his mouth set in a deep frown, but he stepped over and pulled out a chair, taking a seat across from her. It was quiet for only a moment, but it felt like an eternity to Dave. He could feel her gaze on him, and deep down he knew she was probably searching for a first question to ask him, but the only thing in the forefront of his mind right now was: she’s judging me.

“So--”

“How much of that did you hear?” Dave asked, cutting her off before she could begin. Roxy seemed surprised by the question, and Dave was quick to start rambling an apology, “I’m sorry, that’s not--”

“I tuned in around the time you called yourself a crybaby,” She replied; Dave seemed to sink in on himself further at that.

_Great. So she heard all about my problems, and how I think I actually could have stood up to my brother, and oh God, she knows about me liking boys. Fuck, fuck, fuck._

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not upset about any of that,” She said, “You ramble, you like boys, your brother did bad things to you. None of that is going to turn me away from an amazing kid like you.”

Dave… didn’t really understand. Adults were hard to be around for him, the only one he ever really got along with and liked was John’s Dad. He’d known him forever, he never made him nervous. But Roxy and other adults… He didn’t know who they were, he didn’t trust them.

Adults were hard to be around, especially when they showed they cared. 

He didn’t understand.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Roxy said.

“Huh?” Dave finally looked up, but only a little.

“Tell me about yourself,” Roxy repeated, “You know. The things you like to do, the things you want to do. Tell me about your friends. Everything you can. I’m here to listen.”

“Um, okay…” He was still nervous, but he had to say something. He couldn’t just sit here and let her do the talking, he had to somehow convince her to take in somebody like him, “Well uh… I don’t really know where to start. Um… I like music, a wide variety of it, I’m not picky. Uh, I’m pretty interested in dead shit,” Yeah, that sounded fucked up, “I mean like, in a way that’s not creepy. Like, bones and stuff. Uh… shit.”

“Oh, you mean like paleontology?” Roxy asked, seeming interested.

Dave lifted his head a bit more, seeing the smile light up her face; she actually seemed intrigued? “Uh, yeah. I think digging up fossils could be cool. I’d be down with doing that for a living.”

“Well, that’s cool!” Roxy said, still smiling; that was a good sign.

Dave felt himself relax a little more, “Yeah, uh… I guess I also like drawing, making stupid comics and shit. I also like video games, mostly playing them with my best friend John. You know John, right?”

“I do. Rose talks about him often,” Roxy said, “She talks about you as well.”

Dave felt his face burn a little, and he averted his eyes, “They’re cool. All of my friends are, even if I tell them they’re lame all the time.”

Roxy actually giggled at that, and it made Dave smile a little bit. Okay, maybe this wasn’t going so bad, “You’re funny.”

“I try,” Dave joked.

Roxy giggled a couple more times, then she said, “Tell me about school. Do you like it?”

Dave shrugged, “Yeah, it’s cool. I don’t mind school, I’m interested in a lot of stuff though, so that’s probably why.”

“You like all your subjects?” Roxy asked.

Dave nodded, “Pretty much. Sometimes science can be a bit much, math too, but I do alright.”

“Interested in what you’re learning right now then, I presume?” Roxy questioned, and Dave shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess,” He said, opening up a little, “I have a hard time focusing sometimes and it takes me forever to study cuz reading is a pain in the ass, but I do pretty well for the most part.”

“Well, that’s wonderful!” Roxy beamed, “I already know a bit about John and Jade and your friends, but tell me about them. I want to know all about them!”

“Aight,” Dave said, seeming to become more and more comfortable as Roxy kept talking; he was talking about his friends anyway, he could do that with ease, “Rose is a total nerd, no offense. She always acts oblivious, but I know she writes fanfiction about Harry Potter and probably has a wizard-sona or some shit.”

“Dave!” He heard Rose call, and he smirked; Roxy laughed.

So, she’d been eavesdropping. Figures.

“Anyway,” Dave went on, “Jade is weird too, collects stuffed animals and all that junk. She’s hella girly, we’re having a slumber party this weekend, but I guess that could be cool. I hang with a few others too. Sollux is a pain in the ass, and Terezi is cool. I think she had a crush on me once, but I don’t know, nothing ever came of it.”

“Now John, that’s my bestie, as Jade would say,” Dave said, voice deadpan again as it usually was, signaling that he was more comfortable now, “We play video games and I kick his ass every time, and sometimes he ropes me into watching one of his lame ass movies, but he seems to have fun so I don’t mind most of the time. It’s something to do, you know?”

Roxy seemed very interested in Dave’s social life, smiling as he rambled on about all of his friends. And he just kept going, “I met this dude in science lab a couple weeks ago. We had to switch lab partners and he’s my new one, his name’s Karkat. He’s a funky lil dude.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me about him,” She said, noticing even behind his sunglasses that his eyes brightened a little when he mentioned this Karkat kid.

“Yeah, okay,” Dave said, going on to ramble about the other boy, “He’s grumpy as hell and he yells and cusses a lot, he seems to be pretty emotional most of the time. Teach has gotten onto him a shit load because of his mouth, but he doesn’t seem to care very much. He’s pretty funny.”

Dave just continued to ramble about Karkat, a little smile even lighting up his face when he mentioned he invited him skating with him and his friends this Friday. Roxy was resting her chin in her palm at this point, listening intently. Dave was pretty calm most of the time, at least he tried to look it, but he became quite excitable very fast when his interest was piqued. It was nice to listen to.

“Anyway, I poked him with my pencil yesterday and he squeaked like a kitten, it was pretty adorable,” Dave finished, tapping his fingers against the tabletop now, “Anyway, I think that about covers my friend list. Not very many of them, but I think they’re all pretty dope.”

“That’s wonderful, Dave,” Roxy said, “From what I can tell, your friends are very nice… And supportive.”

Dave fiddled his fingers a little bit, realizing she was maybe kind of asking if his friends knew about everything. So, he answered her, “Only John and Rose know about everything. John has for a while and I just told Rose the other day because I learned I’d be meeting you and… yeah.”

Roxy shifted, switching legs to cross over the other, and she set Dave with a curious look; it made him a little nervous, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I think I should bring up your brother.”

He knew that was coming, “Yeah.”

“You could tell me everything, bits and pieces, or nothing at all. It’s all up to you, I just figured I wouldn’t be a very good candidate for your mother if I didn’t at least ask you about it,” Roxy told him, voice calmer than before as she spoke.

Should he tell her? There was a lot to unpack, and he’s not really told anybody about most of it. Sure, they knew that he was beat up a lot, but they didn’t know about the emotional abuse and manipulation and other stuff. He just wasn’t sure he was ready to talk in depth about all of this just yet. 

“I’ll… just tell you what my friends know, if that’s okay for now,” Dave said, looking away from her now.

She smiled kindly, “Of course, Dave. It’s whatever you’re comfortable telling me right now.”

“Okay…” Dave took a deep breath before he began to explain as briefly as possible, “Basically he beat me up all the time. A lot of the time it was ‘to make me tougher’ because, according to him, ‘men are supposed to be strong.’ So, he’d make me fight him all the time and of course I’d lose. I mean, I’m a sixteen year old scrawny ass kid fighting a man in his late twenties who’s jacked as fuck.”

He sort of chuckled darkly, “Anyway, other times he’d just come home from work, be in a pissy mood, and kick the shit out of me to release his frustrations, I guess. But yeah, it sucked and I can’t tell you how glad I am that Mr. Egbert dragged me out of that situation and… Well, I’m really glad you actually find some kind of interest in me… I don’t really think many people have before, so…”

Roxy watched him as he fell silent, seeing his hands move under the table, as if he was trying to hide his stimming. She smiled though, speaking with a soft voice as she leaned forward a little bit, “Well, I have only one thought after speaking with you, kid.”

Dave tensed up, nervous as he waited for her response. She was looking at him with a smile, but he couldn’t really tell what she was thinking. Luckily, she didn’t make him wait long.

“I think you’re the kid for me, Dave,” She told him with a happy smile on her face.

Dave felt the tension melt from his shoulders, and something warm bloomed in his chest. She just looked so happy and… excited? And for him? Adults didn’t like him, he didn’t trust them anyway, but she was different. She was nice, she liked hearing what he had to say, and a lot of people didn’t like listening to his rambling. He almost felt emotional, but he tried to hide it.

“Really?” Dave asked, voice quiet as he looked at her hopefully.

She giggled, “Yes, really.”

He really couldn’t help it. He smiled, and big too. He jumped up, more excited than he usually let people see, “I-I don’t even know what to say right now! Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m hyped as fuck right now!”

Roxy giggled, standing and smoothing out her skirt, “It’s okay to be excited, Dave,” She told him, happy to see him smiling, “Nothing is set in stone yet, but I think we can make this work.”

He sure as hell hoped this would work. He’d never felt this excited about something. He had been so overwhelmed lately with negative things, it was nice to finally have a break for something _good._

Roxy giggled again, seeing how excited he was, but she spoke to someone else now, “I know you’re still out there, Rose! Now, why don’t you come on out here so Dave can tell you the news himself!”

Of course, Rose stepped around the corner and into the kitchen, staring across at her mother and Dave with a smile on her face, “Dave, congratu-- Oh!”

She would have never expected something like this from Dave, but he practically dashed forward and wrapped her up in a big and tight hug. She didn’t know how to react for a moment, she’d never received something like this from him before. He was always so awkward and reluctant for stuff like this, but he was just so happy right now he couldn’t help himself.

She knew he’d be back to his awkward and ‘cool’ self at some point though, so enjoying this moment would be the best decision for right now. So, she wrapped her arms around him too as he rambled excitedly against her shoulder, “Rose, I think you need to prepare yourself, cuz you may be getting a dope ass big brother soon!”

“Big brother? Last time I checked I was your big sister,” Rose teased with a smile.

“Pretty sure I’m older than you,” Dave retorted.

“You don’t act like it,” She shot back.

He continued to ramble after that, and she just listened and held him close. She wasn’t even really sure what he was talking about after a while, but she didn’t stop him and neither did her mother. They just smiled and listened. 

Rose was just happy Dave was happy. She hoped eventually he’d always feel like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Leave a comment and let me know what you think! <3


	10. Learning Curve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay shenanigans ensue at the roller rink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3

The skating rink was never busy on this side of town, the more popular one was in town. So, they pretty much had this one to themselves. Terezi was always here first, her sister brought her here right after school since she worked here. So, Terezi always waited here for her friends to arrive, and first to always arrive was Vriska, her on and off again girlfriend.

Right now, they were on.

“Terezi!” The taller girl called as she practically marched into the rink, “How’s my favorite partner in crime?!”

Terezi grinned that toothy grin of hers, looking in Vriska’s direction, “Vriska, you finally decided to show up.”

Vriska rolled her eyes immediately, frowning as she stopped in front of Terezi and put her hands on her hips, “Yeah, my lame ass sister was rambling about something incomprehensible, but I was finally able to ditch her.”

She smiled again, looking Terezi up and down before her grin grew, “You look great tonight!”

“I look great every night,” Terezi said, smiling cockily; she sniffed, “You smell great.”

“Thanks!” Vriska said before she looked to the counter, “Let me get my skates then we can get rolling.”

“Yeah, alright,” Terezi said, leaning on her cane, skates sitting on the bench next to her.

Vriska stepped away, going to grab her skates, and Terezi sat there in silence. She looked out to the rink, hearing the few pairs of wheels that were already out there. There was music playing as well, nothing of which she was interested in at the moment. 

She listened for Vriska to come back, but instead she heard two other voices.

“Good evening, sister,” A deep and raspy voice spoke to her left, followed by a more chipper tone, “Hi Terezi!”

She turned to face the two boys whose voices she recognized immediately, and she grinned again when she spoke, “Gamzee, Tavros. Didn’t know you two were coming.”

“Hehe, yeah. Gamzee invited me and I thought it could be fun,” He giggled as he scratched the back of his head, “Even though skating will be kind of hard for me, hehe.”

“No it won’t, bro,” Gamzee said, looking down at him, “You’ve got motherfuckin’ wheels for legs, you’re practically made for this.”

Tavros smiled at that, “Well… Maybe you’re right.”

“He is!” Terezi said, slamming the heel of her cane down into the floor, “If a blind girl like myself can skate, so can the guy in a wheelchair. Nothing is impossible, Tavros.”

Tavros laughed a little, but his happy mood didn’t last long. Soon enough, his main antagonizer was back and she was ruthless as always, “Ugh, who invited you?”

Vriska stepped back over, skates dangling from her fingers as she stopped next to Terezi, one hand finding her hip as she narrowed her eyes at the boy. Tavros sunk in on himself a bit, averting his eyes from her, “Oh uh, hi Vriska.”

“Yeah, whatever,” She rolled her eyes, “What are you doing here? Last time I checked, you can’t walk much less skate. What are you going to do, drag yourself across the floor? Good luck, you might get run over.”

“Um, uh…” She made him quite nervous, and he started twiddling his thumbs to help sooth his anxiety; it wasn’t really helping.

“And last time I checked, there was no place for your antagonizing attitude, yet here we are,” A new voice broke into the conversation.

They all looked up, seeing Kanaya step over, Rose at her side. Behind them was Dave and Sollux, looking nonchalant as always. Vriska rolled her eyes and groaned, “Ugh, great. Another pain in my ass joins the party.”

“If me being a pain in the ass prohibits you from being a pain in the ass to my friends, then so be it,” Kanaya said.

Vriska rolled her eyes again, “Ugh, whatever. Come on Terezi, let’s get away from these losers.”

She reached forward and grabbed her girlfriend’s hand, dragging her to her feet and away from the others. Terezi grinned and waved at the others, calling out, “See ya losers on the floor!”

Dave waved, “See ya,” Then he looked around, seeing who was here, and he frowned, “Where’s your grubby friend?”

“My… grubby friend?” Kanaya asked when she realized Dave directed the question to her.

“Yeah, short stack. You know? Kitkat,” Dave said, hands stuffed into his pockets now.

“Oh, Karkat,” Kanaya said, understanding now, “I don’t know, I wasn’t the one who invited him, was I?”

Dave’s face burned a tad at Kanaya’s teasing tone, but he quickly recovered, “No, but I was just wondering if he’s always late or…”

“Oh, yes,” Kanaya said, nodding, “His family is quite… how do I put this.”

“Clingy,” Sollux finished for her.

“No, I wouldn’t say that. More like, overprotective,” She corrected, “He’ll be here though, don’t worry.”

Dave suddenly felt defensive, “Why would I be worried? I could care less if the runt showed up.”

Kanaya gave him a knowing look, smiling a tad, “I see. Well then, I’m going to go and get my skates. Rose?”

“Right behind you,” She said, following after her best friend to the counter.

Dave stood there and watched them walk away, his face burning a tad as he tried to get over himself. Those girls sure had been teasing him a lot lately, it was about time he got payback.

“You good, man?” Sollux suddenly asked, a hand clapping him on the shoulder.

Dave flinched, but turned to look at the lanky boy next to him, “Oh yeah, I’m fine. Girls are a pain in the ass.”

Sollux scoffed, “Tell me about it.”

Dave quirked an eyebrow, casting Sollux a curious look, “Troubles with the goth girl?”

Sollux shrugged, pulling his hand away and pushing both of them back into his pockets; his common stance, “We broke up.”

Dave frowned, “Oh… I’m sorry, man. I don’t know what to--”

Sollux shrugged once more, smirking a little, which was rare to see, “It’s cool. It wasn’t nasty or anything. It was pretty mutual. We’re still friends.”

Dave blinked, then he smiled too, “Well hey, that’s good.”

Sollux nodded, “Yeah… Anyway,” He frowned again, clearing his throat, “I’m gunna go get my skates. It’s been quite the week.”

Dave scoffed and walked with him, “Tell me about it.”

Everyone that was currently there got their skates, the girls going on ahead of them and eventually Sollux stood and left Dave to finish tying his skates by himself. He’s gotten pretty good at skating, but he was always rather graceful. He had to be to avoid…

He shook his head, ignoring that train of thought. _Not tonight. Tonight, you’re having fun._

“Hey Dave!” The familiar voice of his best friend suddenly called from behind him.

Dave looked over his shoulder, seeing John beaming wide and happily at him. Dave smiled too, “Hey John, I was wondering when you were gunna show up.”

John chuckled, “Sorry, Dad was giving me a talking to. He’s been very clingy lately, more than usual.”

Dave smiled a little bigger, “Your Dad is pretty dope, John.”

John giggled again, “Yeah, I guess he is.”

Dave elbowed him gently, “Get your skates man, I’m tired of sitting around.”

“Yeah alright. You go on ahead, I’ll catch up!” He said, then he turned and practically skipped towards the counter.

Dave smirked and shook his head. _What a dork. I can’t believe I used to have feelings for that guy. Whoa Dave, that’s a big step. You only admitted it in your head, but you admitted it nonetheless. Good job, man. High five to your brain self. Hell yeah._

He stood and went towards the rink, stepping onto it and beginning to skate around slowly. He looked around, searching for his friends. John was, of course, still getting his skates. Rose and Kanaya were skating side by side, hands brushing each other as if they were trying to make it oblivious but really it wasn’t. Sollux was spinning in circles by himself, seeming trapped in his own little world.

Vriska and Terezi were holding hands, dancing along to whatever song was playing right now; Dave didn’t know it. Gamzee had ahold of the handles of Tavros’ wheelchair, pushing him around and spinning them, all of which was making the other boy laugh. 

Dave skated around for a while, and eventually John joined him. John wasn’t as good of a skater as him, or the rest of them, but he wasn’t bad either. 

“Whoa!” John stumbled though, almost falling, but Dave caught him, “That was a close one! Thanks Dave, hehe!”

Dave rolled his eyes and lifted John so he could stand on his own two feet again, “You really do have two left feet don’t you, Egbert?”

John chuckled nervously, “I better fix that before the dance, huh?”

“Why? You got a hot date?” Dave teased as they started to skate alongside each other.

John blushed a little, but he shook his head, “No, but if one of my friends wants to dance with me I want to be good.”

Dave shrugged, “Why do you have to be good? Last time I checked, dancing was an expression, man. Let it all out how you want.”

John blinked, surprised by Dave’s words, then he smirked teasingly, “Man, talking with Roxy really boosted your confidence levels.”

“Nah, I’m just feeling hella pumped tonight,” Dave told him, “Happens to the best of us.”

John snickered, “Whatever you say, Dave.”

They skated for a while, making random talk about little things. The video games they play, Dave dissed a movie or two of John’s when the shorter boy brought it up, it was all in good fun. And everything was calm and relaxed, and Dave felt at ease. Though, his excitement spiked when he saw that familiar messy haired gremlin walk through the doors and glare around the room.

“Well, well, look who finally decided to show up,” Dave said to John, nodding towards the boy at the entrance.

John turned his attention to him, then his eyebrows furrowed, “Who’s that?”

Dave remembered John had never met the other boy, so he introduced him, “That’s Karkat, the shortstack who sits next to me in biology.”

John’s eyes widened then in realization, “Oh! That’s Karkat! He looks nice!”

Dave snickered, “What’s your definition of nice, Egbert?”

John rolled his eyes and nudged Dave, “Well, let’s go greet him. He looks a little lost.”

Dave could see Karkat’s eyes flicking around nervously, as if he didn’t know what to do. A bit of social anxiety perhaps? Dave felt sort of bad, so he nodded in agreement with John, “Yeah, I feel kinda bad for the little guy. Let’s go.”

Dave and John skated towards the edge of the rink, stopping at the low bearing wall. Dave leaned his arms on it, flashing a smug grin at the shorter boy looking around in anxiety, his arms crossed and hair looking a bit ruffled. Dave decided to end his misery.

“Yo Karkles,” Dave called, which caught the boys attention immediately.

He somehow looked grumpier when he saw Dave, and he immediately began marching over, snapping at him immediately, “So this is the shit hole you and your dumbass friends hang out at every weekend? It kinda blows here, Strider!”

Dave didn’t let his negativity affect him, “And look who decided to show up.”

Karkat narrowed his eyes, “I showed up because I wanted to see what the big whoop was about. Nothing interesting as far as I can tell.”

“Whoa, you’re angry,” John suddenly butt into the conversation.

Karkat glared at him briefly before he asked Dave, “Who’s this loser?”

“Oh, this is John. He’s my best friend,” Dave said, jutting a thumb in his direction, “He’s kind of a dork, but he’s pretty cool too.”

“Hey!” John cried in offense.

“Isn’t it some form of oxymoron to be a dork and cool simultaneously?” Karkat snapped, still glaring at Dave.

“I don’t think so, you’re managing it pretty well,” Dave said smoothly.

Karkat’s face actually turned red at that, which Dave was not expecting, and it made his face turn red as well. They both averted their eyes, and Karkat immediately started yelling again, “I-I’m going to get my skates! I’ll catch up with you losers never!”

They both watched him march away, and John scratched at his ear curiously, “Jeez, he’s such a grouchy guy.”

“Yeah, but he can be pretty funny,” Dave said, clearing his throat to even his voice out, “Anyway, let’s go. I’ve still got plenty more ill tricks to show off tonight, I’m nowhere close to finished.”

John smirked, “You’re such a show off.”

They both skated off again, and the grouchy boy watched them. They were both insufferable and talked too much, and about useless stuff too. They’re both so annoying, how did anyone put up with them for extended amounts of time. It was a miracle he was able to put up with Dave for just the couple hours at school every day.

He grumbled to the guy behind the counter his shoe size and he went off to get him a pair of skates, and in the meantime Karkat just glared over his shoulder at the others at the rink. He saw Dave and John of course, and there was Gamzee and Tavros spinning around and having fun. He saw Vriska too, and Terezi. They tried dating for a little while, but it didn’t work out. They were still friends though at least, she was really one of the only ones he enjoyed talking to honestly.

Kanaya was here too, with a girl. Presumably that was Rose, Kanaya talked about her all the time. They were practically holding hands, he wonders if she’s told her yet?

“KK!” Oh yeah, he was here too.

Karkat grumbled to himself before he turned around to look at the boy with mismatching eyes leaning against the low bearing wall, Sollux Captor, “What do you want, dickless?”

“Nice to see you too, KK,” Sollux said deadpan, “I’m honestly surprised you showed up.”

Karkat furrowed his eyebrows irritably, “And why is that?”

“You’re not the most social guy around,” Sollux said, “You must’ve had a reason for showing up.”

He smirked sort of teasingly, and Karkat crossed his arms and averted his eyes, “No, I just thought getting out for once would be good for me.”

“Hm, sure,” Sollux said, then he leaned forward against the wall, “I’m also surprised you’re here without a babysitter. Your old man finally decide it’s okay for you to go places by yourself?”

Karkat rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I wish. But no, he’s still being the overprotective blowhard that he is.”

Sollux smirked, “That’s lame.”

“Tell me about it,” Karkat said, rolling his eyes, “So, of course, I had to come with the most annoying person of all time: my brother.”

Sollux snickered, “Don’t say that, KK. My brother seems to like him pretty well.”

“Your brother’s a weirdo anyway,” Karkat retorted.

“Touche,” Sollux said quietly.

“It’s not very nice to talk about people behind their backs, you two,” Speaking of weirdos…

Karkat rolled his eyes and looked to his older brother who was just about the same height as him, “Kankri, you told me you’d leave me alone tonight.”

“Now, now. I told you not to worry about me being here, my friends are here too so I’ll be with them,” Kankri said in his voice he tried his best to mask to sound differently; it was raspy like Karkat’s, but he tried to make it sound otherwise.

“You have friends?” Sollux chortled.

Kankri crossed his arms, “That’s rude.”

“That was the point,” Sollux said with a smug smirk.

“I understand your upbringing is different than mine and your father is rather a ‘jokester’ but that’s no reason to be rude to--”

“KANNNKRRIIIII!” A loud and slightly lisping voice suddenly yelled, startling both Vantas boys and suddenly a boy with 3D lenses was hanging over Kankri, leaning against his back and resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Mituna! Don’t scare me like that!” Kankri cried, seeming frazzled by his sudden voice and touch, almost uncomfortable.

“Haha! Sorry, I was just excited to see you!” Mituna giggled, still hanging over Kankri’s shoulders and back.

“Well um… It’s nice to see you too…” Kankri shifted uncomfortably under Mituna’s mostly limp weight, “Could you please get off of me now?”

“Oh! Sorry!” Mituna said, quickly retreating and scratching the back of his head, “I get really excited sometimes, hehe! Sorry Kankri!”

“It is quite alright,” Kankri said, smoothing his sweater out, “Just please try to control yourself in the future.”

“Hehe, will do,” Mituna said, mock saluting, “I’m just glad you finally decided to come hang out with us! You never want to go out, so this is pretty sick!”

Kankri shifted, crossing his arms as if trying to hide himself, “Well, Karkat was going so I just figured… why not?”

Mituna smiled a little bigger, “I’m glad! We miss hanging out with you, you know?”

“Yes, I quite miss you too…” Kankri blinked then, curious, “‘We?’ Who else is--”

“Kanny! So glad you could finally make it!” Oh great.

Kankri turned to see Porrim approaching, along with Aranea and Meenah; he could see Rufioh further back watching his younger brother skate with Gamzee, a smile on his face as he watched, “Oh… hello everyone.”

He was tugging at the bottom of his sweater, avoiding looking at any of them nervously. He never liked crowds much, and things were becoming a bit too intense; Meenah spoke up, “What are you being so twitchy for, loud mouth? It’s just us.”

“Yes, I know. I apologize, I’m just not used to going out often and crowds make me a bit anxious,” Kankri said, still tugging at the bottom of his sweater and avoiding their eyes.

He felt a hand grab his wrist, gentle fingers wrapping around it and he flinched but quickly calmed down when he turned to see it was only Karkat trying to sooth him, “Breathe Kankri.”

He nodded, “Yes, alright.”

“It’s not that crowded in here, see? Just a few people, and most of them we know,” Karkat actually smiled then, a sort of soft look on him, “It’s just friends and family here, okay? We’ll be fine.”

Kankri nodded again, calming slightly, “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Karkat smiled.

Mituna suddenly hopped forward again, balling his fists and looking sort of excited, “Come on, Kankri! Let’s get our skates!”

“I uh… I don’t know how to skate…” Kankri said, seeming a little embarrassed.

“Then I’ll teach you!” Mituna said, holding out his hand but not taking Kankri’s directly, “Well?”

Kankri looked at his hand, then he decided to go ahead with it; he placed his hand in Mituna’s, “Okay, I trust you.”

Mituna giggled happily, “Hell yeah! Yo, size nine and, uh… Kankri, what’s your shoe size?”

“Oh um, seven,” He said.

Mituna, still holding his hand, chuckled, “I always forget how small you are.”

Kankri’s face flushed, “Th-that’s not very nice to say.”

Mituna just laughed, as did the girls behind them, and Kankri just blushed, a little embarrassed. The guy put Karkat’s skates on the counter before he turned and went to grab several pairs more. Karkat took his and went to sit down and put them on, listening in on his brother and his friend’s conversation. Though, soon enough, he was groaning irritably when one of the most annoying members of that group decided to show his face.

“Hey ladies,” The thick city accent of Cronus Ampora spoke, “Mituna,” Then he stopped and said in a lower voice, “Kankri.”

Mituna slumped his shoulders, suddenly frowning, “Oh, hi Cronus.”

“Why the long face?” Cronus asked, approaching, “Not happy to see me?”

Mituna backed away, looking to the floor. Kankri looked between the two, ending up pressed right between them. He wasn’t a fan of all of this close contact, but Mituna appeared to uncomfortable and Kankri didn’t like that. 

He stepped forward a little, crossing his arms and turning his nose up snootily, “Cronus, I’m not sure what happened between you and Mituna but you appear to make him uncomfortable so I will have to ask you to please back away.”

Cronus gave Kankri a softer look, always having a rather soft spot for the shorter man, “There’s nothing between us, we’re fine. Right, kid?”

He tried to take another step forward, but suddenly someone was pushing between him and the other two. Sollux Captor suddenly was standing in front of his brother and glaring up at the greasy looking man in front of him, trying to be intimidating even though Cronus towered over him.

“What do you want, pipsqueak?” Cronus snapped, narrowing his eyes at Sollux.

“Back off my brother you creep,” He snapped back, fists clenched by his sides.

Cronus and Sollux were right on top of each other, glaring and looking like they were about to fight. Everyone was tense, waiting for something to happen, but suddenly a new voice was breaking the silence and grabbing Cronus, tearing him away.

“Cronus, w-what the hell are you doing now?! Do you know w-what Dad w-would do if he found out you’re back to your fighting bullshit?!” It was Eridan, Cronus’ younger brother.

He had a hold of his leather jacket, struggling to pull him away. Cronus was still glaring into Sollux’s eyes, and Sollux snapped at him, “Listen to your idiot brother, dickhead.”

Cronus grit his teeth, anger flashing in his eyes. He felt Eridan’s hands on his jacket, pulling on him and finally he backed off. He scoffed, “Whatever.”

He then turned to look at his brother who was holding him back; he threw his arm around and shoved Eridan back, his back hitting the wall roughly as Cronus stepped past, “Quit being a wuss, you idiot. And get off of me.”

Eridan winced at the slight pain in his back as his brother marched past them all, reaching into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. Sollux stepped forward, standing protectively in front of the others, “Take your own advice, dickwad!”

Cronus stopped and turned to glare over his shoulder, but figured it wasn’t worth it and he turned to leave and go take a smoke. The others rushed over to Kankri and Mituna, and Sollux turns to look at Eridan rubbing at his side. For once, he was actually nice to the idiot.

“You alright, Ed?” He asked.

Eridan seemed surprised by his question and even more so by the neutral expression on his face, “W-what?”

“You heard me,” Sollux snapped with a little of his usual irritation, but not much of it.

Eridan averted his eyes and he nodded, “I’m fine… He’s alw-ways like that.”

Sollux felt his lip twitch, wanting to frown, but he kept his deadpan expression, “Come on, let’s go skate. KK’s here.”

Eridan looked up then, surprised by his offer, then he saw his hand outstretched towards him. It was weird, Sollux being nice to him, but he had just been tossed aside by his own brother. He probably just felt bad for him, that’s all. He reached out and took his hand anyway, letting him pull him up from where he was leaning against the wall before he shoved him forward, though not with nearly as much force as Cronus used just a minute ago.

“You okay, Mituna?” Porrim asked, looking him over with concern.

Mituna took a deep breath, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Meenah waved a hand around, “Just ignore him, Tuna. He’s a loser anyway, not worth your time.”

Mituna nodded, “Yeah, you’re right! He’s just a total loser, he’s not gunna ruin my night!”

They all sort of laughed at his sudden enthusiasm, and Karkat rolled his eyes, “College kids are so fucking weird.”

He sat down and put his skates on quickly, tying them up, and that’s when Eridan and Sollux came over, “Hey KK, look who I found.”

Karkat caught Eridan’s eyes and watched the other boy lift his hand to wave, “Oh, hey Eridan.”

“Hi Kar,” He said, “Didn’t know this place was your style.”

“Didn’t know it was yours either,” Karkat droned back.

Eridan shrugged, “It’s not, but Cronus was coming by so… I just figured to get out of the house for a little while tonight and here I am.”

“Well, I guess that’s cool,” Karkat shrugged, “Haven’t seen you a lot lately, it’s nice to see you here I guess…”

Sollux suddenly slid onto the bench next to him, “KK… Are you being… nice?”

Karkat suddenly set his glare on the lankier boy, “Don’t fuck with me tonight Sollux, I will scream directly into your ear.”

“Ooh, that’s kind of kinky, KK,” Sollux said, deadpan.

Karkat’s face burned red and he quickly stood, “Okay, it was nice talking to you two fucksticks, but I have places to be and those places just so happen to be far away from you two fucking incomprehensibly annoying assholes!”

Then he semi-walked, semi-skated away from them, a funny sight to watch really. Eridan slumped his shoulders, “I didn’t even say anything.”

Karkat grabbed the low bearing wall, muttering to himself irritably about Sollux fucking Captor. What a pain in his ass, he’d get back at him for all the bullshit he put him through one of these days. Oh, he’d regret ever crossing paths with Karkat Vant--

Suddenly, Karkat was falling, his skate slipping out from underneath him and sending him careening to the hard floor of the roller rink. Well, that hurt. 

“Hey, you okay little dude?” Ugh, and now he was here.

Karkat saw the white-haired boy standing over him, face deadpan as usual, “Yeah, I’m having a great time down here lying on the fucking floor and waiting for someone to run me over like a fucking snowplow.”

“Oh okay, I guess I’ll just leave you to it then,” Dave said, turning and starting to skate away.

Karkat’s eyes widened and he suddenly yelled without even thinking first, “Don’t just leave me lying down here you fucking idiot!”

Dave spun around again, moving his hands around as he spoke, “I thought you and the floor were having a feelings jam.”

Karkat rolled his eyes, “Ever heard of sarcasm, Strider?”

“No,” Dave said, deadpan.

“Ugh!” Karkat felt like he was about to throw a tantrum like a five year old, “Just get over here and help me up! I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one night!”

Dave fought at a smirk and skated over, stopping next to the shorter boy and reaching his hands out, “Alright, upsy daisy.”

He grabbed Karkat’s arms and helped him to his feet, careful when the other started scrambling a bit. He got him up though and when he was steady he released him and stepped back, “Aight, I’m gunna catch up with John. You can come skate with us if you want.”

“Um--” Karkat couldn’t even reply because Dave was already skating away, as if he were expecting Karkat to follow. Karkat, panicking, lurched forward before Dave could get too far, “Hey, wait!”

Dave wasn’t expecting it, and he wasn’t really even sure Karkat was either, but the shorter of the two quickly fell forward and grabbed a hold of Dave in a rather unconventional way. He wrapped his arms around Dave’s middle just above his hips, keeping him in place and in the process keeping himself upright.

Dave felt his face burn a little and he turned his head to peer down at Karkat, but he could only really see one bright eye and a tuft of fluffy hair, “Uh… Whatcha doing there, Karkat?”

“I-I uh…” He looked down at the floor, noticing his skate was slipping making him fall, so he tightened his hold on Dave, side of his face pressing further against his side, “I can’t skate, alright? I don’t want to fall, so uh… Stop looking at me like that, asshole!”

Dave blinked, face red, “Looking at you like what? Am I not allowed to look at you?”

“Not when your face looks like that!” Karkat snapped, “Why do you look all nervous?! I’m the one about to perish to the likes of faulty plastic wheels!”

Okay, this dude is really dramatic. Dave calmed down a little at his theatrics though, so that was good, “You can’t skate and still decided to come to a skating rink? Bro, if you can’t skate you should’ve told me. We could’ve gone bowling or some shit.”

“No, that’d be embarrassing! I couldn’t just tell you I can’t skate! Everybody can skate!” Karkat yelled, pretty much alerting everyone in the building that he couldn’t skate.

“Yeah, because wailing like a toddler and clinging to me isn’t embarrassing at all,” Dave said sarcastically.

“Strider, don’t test me! Just…” Karkat started to slip again and supported himself on Dave, cheek smushing against Dave’s side, “Help.”

Dave’s insides did something at the tone in Karkat’s voice and he felt his heartbeat pick up a little bit. He wasn’t against these feelings like he used to be, but they still alerted him nonetheless. He was no coward though.

“Okay man, chill. I gotchu,” He said, grabbing Karkat’s forearms wrapped around him, “Uh… Loosen your arms a little, dude. I can’t move.”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Karkat said, loosening his grip a little so Dave could move. He spun around in his arms so he could face him and soon Karkat’s face was pressed against his stomach. No, this was not better and it made Karkat’s face burn horribly.

“Alright, I’ll help you okay? But you gotta let me go and trust me,” Dave said, “Got it?”

Karkat, trying to distract himself, nodded, “Y-yeah, sure.”

“Alright, good,” Dave said, and then suddenly his fingers were prying Karkat’s arms off of him. He eventually got Karkat off of him and standing steadily, but he still had a hold of his arms to keep him from falling, “Okay, do you want to go sit down or something?”

“What? No, I came here to skate, genius,” Karkat snapped, as if that was actually something he could do.

“Uh, dude, not to be a dick or anything but I legit just watched you fall on your face,” Dave said, “You might need to reevaluate what you need to be doing here.”

Karkat’s face was burning with embarrassment and he didn’t want to embarrass himself further by sitting this one out while all his friends skated without him. No, he was going to do this.

“Strider, I am not going to go back over there and sit down,” Karkat snapped, glaring at Dave, “I am going to skate my ass off!”

Dave held in a laugh at the way he said literally all of that in such a domineering tone, “Well, what do you want me to do about it? If you can’t skate bro you can’t skate.”

“Well--I--Stop being an asshole!” Karkat yelled, fingers clinging onto Dave’s sleeves as he slipped and almost fell, “Ah!”

“Whoa, calm down,” Dave said, catching the other boy and steadying him, “What? Do you want me to teach you how to skate or something?”

“I never said that!” Karkat defended, but Dave caught the red hue on his face before he could turn away.

Dave smiled teasingly, “Aww, you want me to teach you how to skate, bro?”

“Shut up! I didn’t ask for this!” Karkat yelled, moving his arms in his anger and almost falling again, “Shit!”

“Dude, calm down before you eat the floor again,” Dave said, keeping him upright still.

Karkat lifted his head to glare at Dave, seeming borderline ashamed, “Just… If you… Ugh, just help me get a feel for this and then you can fuck off and leave me alone!”

Dave smirked and shrugged, “Aight, give me your hands.”

“What?!” Karkat snapped, eyes widening.

“Just give me your hands,” Dave said, “Don’t make it weird, bro.”

“You don’t make it weird, Strider!” Karkat yelled but Dave didn’t even seem fazed by it. Karkat huffed and looked down at their intertwined arms and slowly he pulled his arms down under his fingers were latching onto Dave’s hands, “Okay, there! Happy?!”

Dave smirked seeing the blush that Karkat was trying so hard to hide, “As a clam,” Karkat pouted, so Dave continued, “Okay, I’m just gunna skate back a little. Keep a hold on me and you’ll do just fine.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Karkat said, and when Dave squeezed his hands he turned to look at him again; he’d started skating backwards. Karkat rolled forward and he panicked a bit, squeezing Dave’s hands tighter as he tried not to stumble, “Shit.”

“It’s alright, man. Nothing to be scared of,” Dave told him calmly.

“Eat shit, Dave,” Karkat said, though it lacked it’s usual bite, “Is it so bad that I don’t wanna fall?!”

“No, it’s fine,” Dave said, voice still even and calm, “Stop looking at the floor, that isn’t helping. Look at me.”

Karkat tore his gaze away from the ground and looked to Dave and for a split second Karkat didn’t look so angry. Dave felt his breath catch in his throat and luckily he was wearing his shades because his eyes suddenly widened seeing Karkat’s face without all the angry creases and… _His eyes are red? Like mine._

_They’re really pretty._

“Earth to Strider! I don’t where the hell you’ve gone but I’m still right fucking here panicking about my skates pushing my feet in opposite directions!” Karkat yelled, and that pulled Dave out of his trance.

He shook his head and blinked, confused for a brief second, “What?”

And then suddenly, they were both tripping and falling to the floor. Karkat cried out, reaching out to grab anything he could find and that just so happened to be Dave’s jacket. Doing so aided in helping Dave fall as well, and suddenly they were both on the floor. Karkat’s back hit in first, and then there was a weight on top of him that knocked all the wind out of him. He coughed and winced, grumbling in pain and irritation.

Dave landed on Karkat, who was rather soft, so he didn’t feel a whole lot of pain. What he did feel, however, was concern, because Karkat looked to be in pain and Dave was sure his body landing on top of him was part of the cause of that.

“Whoa, shit dude! Are you okay?!” Dave asked, finally a little emotion in his voice.

Karkat could hear Dave rambling and when he opened his eyes he saw Dave’s face right in his. It took him a minute to figure out what was going on, but soon enough he discovered Dave had fell on him which was a part of the reason he couldn’t breathe, “No, fuckass! I think I broke my entire fucking spine when your lanky ass fell and landed on me!”

He expected a witty comeback, but instead all he got was, “Does it hurt that bad?! Shit, are you alright?! Here, let me help you…”

Dave rolled off of him then and suddenly Karkat could breathe better, and quickly he was being helped up. It all happened so fast, but all he knew now was that he was standing and Dave had an arm wrapped around his shoulders and was guiding him over to take a seat.

When they were sitting away from the rink, Dave started rambling again, “Hey, you okay? You look a little out of it? Does it hurt? Your back, I mean. And what about the rest of you? Did you hurt anything else? Hey dude, your breathing is a little heavy, you alright?”

He talked way too much and it was infuriating, but for some reason Karkat didn’t feel angry. For once, he didn’t have a snarl on his face and when he looked at Dave he spoke with an even voice, “I’m fine, Dave. Calm down.”

Dave was silent then, surprised by his calm demeanor and tone, but he wasn’t quiet for long, “Okay, well that’s good.”

Karkat took a deep breath and exhaled it, slumping his shoulders, “Maybe skating wasn’t such a good idea after all. Should’ve just sat down like you told me to.”

Dave scratched the back of his head nervously, “Yeah, sorry man.”

Karkat shrugged, “It’s fine, I’m clumsy anyway. It was bound to happen.”

Karkat leaned over then, starting to undo the strings on his skates so he could take them off. Dave sat there in silence for a brief moment before he said, “Dude, you should’ve told me you couldn’t skate. Really, we could’ve gone bowling or something.”

Karkat gave him a weird look, “You invited me in a general term, how should you know I couldn’t skate? This isn’t a date, Dave.”

Dave immediately felt his face burn and soon enough Karkat realized what he’d said and blushed as well. There was silence, then Karkat was kicking off his skates and standing, “Anyway! I’m going to go get a drink!”

“Yeah, alright!” Dave said, voice higher than he wanted it to be so he cleared his throat, “I mean, yeah. That’s cool.”

That’s cool? He’s getting a drink, Dave. 

Karkat stepped away, then he turned and asked, “Want anything?”

Dave blinked in surprise, then he saw the curious expression on Karkat’s face. He let his anxiety melt away and his shoulders relaxed and he smiled a little bit, “Yeah, wait up. I’ll come with you.”

And Karkat did wait, and Dave took off his skates and followed after him. For once they had a conversation that didn’t involve bickering or name calling, and yeah. It was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review to let me know what you think! Thank you!


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